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What Lies Beneath
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Cover Art (above) to order this DVD
The Film : What Lies Beneath was made by yet another director who wants to salute Alfred Hitchcock. However, with
unique films to Robert Zemekis' credit, like Back to the Future and Forrest
Gump, did he really have to? Given the final result, this is like
a peach trying to be a banana. As great of a director as Zemekis is,
thrillers are apparently not his true calling, and Beneath
really isn't his best work. The story
stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, who play a married couple in a possibly haunted
house (yes, the core story can be summarized that simply). The problem is,
all the weird things that happen around the house might have been scary
ten years ago, though not now. After films like Poltergeist, Ghost, The
Sixth Sense, and any number of slasher flicks, this is pretty
blasé stuff. Doors seem to open by themselves, objects fall from tables,
and ghosts even write cryptic messages on steamed mirrors; we've seen it
all in films before. I'll
forgive the film's plot for resembling the PC "interactive
thriller," Phantasmagoria;
it's unlikely Zemekis ever played the game, so he wouldn't know his film's
similarities with it. The main problem is in the film's
mismanagement of suspense. I'll try to explain this, without giving
anything away (wish me luck...). Imagine a surprise party, where the
person the party is held for approaches his driveway, and sees tons of
cars parked in his way. Then he approaches the front door and sees
presents clearly in the window. Then he opens the door to see everyone
there, not hiding, and with the lights on! After counting to ten,
they finally scream, "Surprise!" The attempts at shocking
moments in this film play a lot like that scenario; the event music wants
you to be shocked, while you saw the occurrence about to happen, several
minutes in advance. Lots
of accolades have gone to Pfeiffer, which are deserved, though only to a
point. Near the end of the film, she deserts her own acting talents, for
apparently an attempt to mimic the teenybopper talent that often steals
her movie roles nowadays. This includes way too many girlish, ear-tingling
screams; most are even badly timed! At one point, she sees an attacker's
dying body, doesn't scream, then sees it gone, goes to look for it,
finally sees the body lying on the floor elsewhere, and then
decides to scream. Why scream then? She was looking
for the body! Talk about slow reflexes! By
the finale, the whole film's worth is about as transparent as any ghost
could be. Revelations are made, though nothing well written. Yes, as we
all know, ghosts don't appear just to play checkers, and the ghost's
reason for pestering their home is made clear. However, the final plot
twist attempted is worse than an episode of
Scooby Doo! When the final revelations are made, the
"surprise" villain plays the role like it's being read on cue
cards. While I admire the acting talent playing this role (you'll know
when you see it), their role here is worse than MGM cartoon's Droopy Dog,
whimpering, "Ya know whut? I'm the bad guy. Hooo-ray!"
Surprisingly, Pfeiffer doesn't scream...yet. The
DVD : Actually, this isn't a
badly constructed DVD, if you can get beyond the problems with the
film. There's the obligatory audio commentary, showing how
much Zemeckis liked making the film, no matter what we might feel about
the final result. It's almost enough to make me re-think my decision of a
marginal-thumbs-down; this Oscar-Winning director is that
convincing, when talking about each scene. In
addition, HBO's "First Look," a behind-the-scenes featurette, is
also included. This feature wisely reminds you not so much about this
film, as much as the many other, superior works that Zemeckis has done in
the past, including the sci-fi classic, Back to the Future,
and the Oscar-Winning Forrest Gump. He's also, FYI, the man
behind Castaway, which earned
Tom Hanks yet another Golden Globe award. Whatever this First Look special
doesn't mention is probably mentioned in 15 screens worth of informative
text, also on the DVD. Personally,
I could think of other films by Zemeckis that I'd prefer to own on DVD.
However, he's still a great film maker, and has made a old-fashioned
thriller that stars Ford and Pfeiffer.
If that's all you're looking for in a thriller, this could be worth a look
(especially as a rental). However, as for me, with all that Hollywood
power, I expected something more.
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Box Cover (left) to order this DVD
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