Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by mr grits (A) on May 04, 2008 at 12:49:08

Is it a discombobulated mess or a masterpiece of insanity? I prefer the latter as Hopkins wrote and directed this "dream within a dream" and brought it to fruition in just 31 days of shooting time. His use of the latest HD digital camera clearly shows it is nearly indistinguishable from film stock and lends itself so handily to all the effects used in post production the story required.

Hopkins plays Felix Bonhoffer who is an aging screen writer struggling through one last movie. His concentration suddenly becomes enmeshed between reality vs. screenplay and its characters which challenges the viewer to distinguish which is which. Being Sir Tony got him a extremely talented cast in John Turturro, Michael Duncan Clark, Christian Slater (great performance), Epatha Merkenson, Jeffery Tambor, Hopkins' lovely wife, and other notables.

To me, the last deleted scene is the "Wizard of Oz" scene which seems to explain a lot--so don't miss it. (I guess Sir Tony didn't want to be too easy on us as he deleted it.)