First off, I write off any film that uses a cat jumping on someone to startle the audience. Budapest makes a beautiful location and it's too bad Frost and Piddington don't make more of it as was done, for example, with Cannes in _Ronin_. The start of the film is very exciting, especially when the heroine runs into a car but deteriorates rapidly from there into cliché upon cliché (including the jumping cat - just out of curiosity, has anybody seen a cat ever do that to a person, and from where are they supposed to jump?). Perhaps it is the proliferation of clichés but the film cannot sustain the level of suspense shown in the beginning. And if you cannot figure the "surprise" prior to its unveiling I've got some swampland to show you in Florida.
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=G=17 September 2001"The Fall", a technically and artistically okay flick filmed in Budapest, tells of a frustrated American writer (Scheffer) who finds himself involved in drama and intrigue when his flat is invaded by a beautiful woman on the run (de Fougerolles). A flawed screenplay with a thin story which doggedly wrestles with its own flimsy plot, "The Fall" makes for the kind of monotonous watch which is most likely to be enjoyed on late night tv when the picking is slim.
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Woodyanders19 August 2022Budapest. Aspiring writer Adam Ellis (a solid and likeable performance by Craig Sheffer) decides to help out the beautiful, but mysterious Marta Kiss (a lively portrayal by fetching blonde Helene de Fougerolles) after Marta breaks into his apartment seeking refuge from two men who she claims are trying to kill her.
While the intriguing premise just about sustains interest throughout, director Andrew Piddington alas lets the story plod along at a sluggish pace and fails to generate any essential tension until the rousing last third. Moreover, Jurgen Prochnow is wasted in a pretty minor role. Fortunately, the surprisingly sad and tragic big plot reveal at the end packs a fair amount of punch. A strictly passable time-waster. -
claudio_carvalho19 November 2013In Budapest, the aspirant writer Adam Ellis (Craig Sheffer) from New York lives with the also American Lisa Warrington (Kim Huffman) in an apartment that belongs to her chief József Kovács (Jürgen Prochnow) that Lisa worships. Kovács is a former communist and presently an entrepreneur hated by his compatriots. One day, a blonde (Hélène de Fougerolles ) is chased by two men in the subway and then on the streets; however she cuts the throat of one of them with a straight razor in a corridor in a building. Then she breaks in Adam's apartment to flee from the other man. She tries to seduce Adam and then she tells a strange story about her husband, her little daughter and Kovacs. Adam decides to help her but is the woman telling the truth?
"The Fall" is an awful and worthless low-budget thriller, with an absurd, incoherent and unbelievable story and ridiculous plot point. The behavior of the dumb Adam in a foreign country is unconvincing and I doubt that someone could be as stupid as his character is. The sex scene is absolutely unnecessary and senseless and does not add any value to the story. The final twist is ridiculous. My vote is two.
Title (Brazil): "Ilusão Fatal" ("Fatal Illusion") -
filox3519 August 2001Even though at the time I thought I had nothing else to do besides watching it, and that it was on TV, I regret wasting my time on this movie. This flick is definitely one of the most incoherent, twisted, worthless pieces of work I've ever seen. The story involves so many contradictions, it becomes an unintentional comedy (and that only if you have a big sense of humor). The picture, sound, and other technical work is OK, but if you're just looking to see good technical work, then get the National Geographic or the Discovery Channel. The sex scene seems to be made just to accomplish a requirement (because it was too soft, so unnecessary and unjustifiable to the story). It's like mixing elements without any sense of coherence, just to get a movie that has it all. And yep, it has action (poor performance there), it has mystery, suspense, sex (too graphic and too soft at the same time), nudity, violence, BUT NO LOGICAL ADHESION BETWEEN THEM. Big waste of time to say the less.
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bkoganbing7 November 2014About the only thing I learned from this film is that Budapest is now the new Paris where one goes to find his creative muse. At least that's what Craig Sheffer is there for according to him. But as far as I'm concerned I didn't get to see enough of Budapest to make it worthwhile even as a travelogue.
But happily living and kanoodling with Kim Huffman has enough diversions and apparently he's living off her. But then the sexy Helene DeFougerolles breaks into his place after escaping a couple of men after her. After that Sheffer starts thinking with his male member.
A cursed and muddled plot characterizes The Fall and no one walks away from this with their artistic reputations intact. -
Kat-lee7731 July 2019The all too brief images of a very limited number of Budapest locales and the few actual Hungarian actors, plus the excellent Jurgen Prochnow are not enough to save this insipid, convoluted mess. The 3 other leads deliver performances akin to cardboard cut-outs, although it may well be the very poorly written script's lack of coherence that's to blame. If it's Budapest you're interested in, you'll do better watching a travelogue. There are many other very fine foreign films that deserve a viewing, give one of those a chance and pass on this one.
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goodfella-814 September 2004An good thriller which in my opinion was let down by a slightly dubious cast and poor direction. While the script was a little obvious it seemed to have the potential for much more and I liked the premise of a foreigner out of his depth in a strange country and the central relationship that was bought together by this situation. I think the director however missed out on building the tense claustrophobic atmosphere that this should have been. This could have been partly due to the cinematography however, which, while starting out with very stylish exteriors, seemed to lose all sense of it's cinematic scope on the interiors.
I noticed that the script was based upon Michael Walker's original screenplay. Having recently seen some of his short work which seems to be doing very well at the moment I wonder what his original screenplay was like? -
maralex16 September 2001This film was way above average, and is - in my opinion - greatly underestimated. The opening sequence is exciting and gripping, and the story moves at a fast pace as the plot twists and turns towards an intriguing finish. Most of the performances were very good. Helene de Fourgerolles is new to me, but she was excellent, and it was impossible to tell whether she or the ever-reliable Jurgen Prochnow were telling the truth. My only quibble was that Craig Sheffer never convinced, neither his fear of nor his his fascination for the lovely Marta came across properly, and this was a pity. Try and see it, the rest of the cast more than make up for him.
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thales-26 July 1999It took me a while to figure out where this movie was set but I was enjoying it all the way... The actress who plays marta is sexy and... what an alluring accent! I liked the final plot twist, it was totally unexpected and out of the usual "plot twist" hollywood tradition... fun movie.
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Set in Budapest, this Canadian thriller has enough interesting elements to make it a winner.
Lots of plot twists, amazing camera work, great shots of Hungary!