Paranoid
UK
2000. Director: John Duigan
Cast: Jessica Alba, Ewen Bremner, Kevin Whately, Jeanne Tripplehorn
Really strange one about supermodel Chloe who
follows her boyfriend to a weird old hotel on the countryside. First
the
boyfriend leaves without telling her, then she accidentally manage to
see a secret video tape with people doing naughty stuff on it. Fearing
that she might have been drugged, filmed and raped as well Chloe tries
to leave the house but crashes her car nearby and for that she is handcuffed
onto a bed in the basement by villain and rock-musician Iain Glen. As
if this isn't enough Chloe, because she is a supermodel, also have a
secret admirer who calls her up on her cell-phone all the time moaning
and puffing. And oh lucky girl, he happens to call her right now, so
Chloe takes the chance to beg for help, asking him to call the cops.
He doesn't of course, perhaps because he is a psycho and a stalker,
instead he decide to look her up by himself.
This "psychological thriller" is so extremely dull that it almost becomes interesting because of it. Almost but not quite. Not that it lack any plot, it has plenty of plots and sub-plots, though one is still left feeling like there isn't any plot at all. Just too many characters floating around wasting time, like the weird guy (Ewen Bremner) who documents everything that moves with his video camera. Or the bitter woman (Jeanne Tripplehorn) endlessly whining about Chloe's modelling. It's not even funny. Kevin Whately (Sergeant Lewis in the Morse TV series) as the voyeuristic stalker, well, maybe slightly funny. Jessica Alba cuffed onto a bed... maybe not as funny, because, and please forgive me for saying this all you Dark Angel-fans, Alba is a terrible actress. She manage to give a performance which rank among the worst ever or at least in memory. To watch her play drunk or drugged or even tired is a torture in itself and since the character of Chloe isn't very likable to begin with you stop caring about what happens to her. They can lock her up forever. The only interesting performance comes from Mischa Barton (TV's OC) who is rather good as a deaf-mute girl who likes to walk around with a ping-pong ball in her mouth and she is the only seemingly normal person in the film. Nevertheless, leave Paranoid at the shelf.
© The Inzomniac's Movie Madness Review.