OK. Well...The Return. Sarah Michelle Gellar's latest genre addition finds her running from a cowboy with a killer past. Asif Kapadia's sophomore effort, after 2001's The Warrior, will likely disappoint more than entertain. The story is convoluted and under developed, and aside from Gellar's Joanna, we really don't have any idea why any of the other characters are there. However, in stark comparison to the other filler thrillers we have seen for years, The Return boasts excellent camera work and even better art direction and cinematography. It is told in heavy visual style, which is a refreshing take on an old tale. Twitchy camera movement heightens the suspense and paranoia of the film while the bleak colors and atmosphere add themes of isolation and desolation. Gellar is exceptional as Joanna Mills, a successful midwesterner constantly on the road to elude some painful past, not to mention the hallucinations and creepy visions she keeps enduring. It is a solid transition from horror to... something else. And while we as an audience may not have any idea what Gellar is pulling, it's certain that she does, and is making some very interesting and risky role choices which adds to her versatility. (Keep your eyes peeled for her work in Southland Tales as a porn-star come reality-television conoisseur) I am not going to bore you with the details of the story, since every other review basically regurgitates the little material there is to work with. The plot isn't bad, it's just very minimalistic and sparse on character detail, which, for an atmosphere and mood-driven film like this one, is a fatal mistake. The suspense is good, it holds enough tension to keep you entertained enough to keep watching. The supporting cast are all pretty good, no Oscar contenders here but take it for what it is. The score is effective, using violins and chimes to purvey a sense of dread and malice. The visual style is very compelling, we feel like we're in Texas, seeing this happen through a series of well thought out, well lit shots that subtley take us deeper into Joanna's psychological state. The scene where she awakes in the field is one of the best, and proves that Kapadia's second feature may not be the greatest, but started out to be a very different, innovative project that got a little muddled in post-production. A good film, I'd wait for DVD, but the creepy soundbytes and ghostly whispers won't have the same effect as in the theatre. The Return is definitely misunderstood, but for those keen enough to see it through, you will get a glimpse of isolated, lonely people just looking to connect and get over the issues that have brought them together.
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csnl_2014 November 2006
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payasoingenioso23 February 2021I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed Sarah Michelle Gellar. She delivers.
This is a mystery / drama. The thriller and horror portions are barely there.
I think I missed something in the plot, but the movie still seems like a smart art piece. -
wolverinejmc11 November 2006I just got back from The Return and loved it. It certainly wasn't amazing, but it was a huge cut above other movies like it. I went into this expecting a movie like Dark Water. More of a drama than anything scary. I was wrong. Return had a whole lot more scares than Dark Water, but had a story to back it up, not to say Dark Water didn't have any. Sarah's acting was a whole lot better than her other movies, which added to the scares. It was a bit confusing at times but the ending brought it all together. the scares were mostly jump moments, but the atmosphere and cinematography added on to them.Go and see this movie, but don't expect stupid scares like the Grudge 2, and enjoy the ride. The return was a well acted, slow moving yet wonderfully intense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
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David-O-Brien22 February 2007I am amazed with some of the reviews of this film. The only place that seems to tell the truth is RottenTomatoes.com. This film is awful. The plot is extremely lazy. It is not scary either. People out there who think that because it stars Sarah Michelle Geller it is somehow like The Grudge should forget about it. This film is more like Dark Water, except it is even more predictable and slow moving than it. I was extremely disappointed with this film. It didn't scare me nor interest me either. Let's face it , this type of plot has been flogged to death at this stage e.g. the dead trying to contact the living - Dragonfly, What Lies Beneath, Ghost Story, Dark Water, Darkness, The Changeling etc.etc. It seems to me that the only ones writing original horror films nowadays are the Japanese and the Koreans. The films that are coming out of Hollywood, like this, are cynical exercises in money making without a shred of respect for the viewer. They're just being churned out
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kitano026 October 2009I just saw this movie yesterday...I cannot believe the reviews on this site. The ones that give it over one-star must be Buffy fanatics. Well, I am a Buffy fan of the first order, but I know crap when I see it. On every level, this film is terrible. Technically, much of the time you don't know where you are in this movie, even within one scene, it jumps POV like crazy for no reason. No logic whatsoever in cinematic terms. Emotionally is bleak for bleak's sake and attempts to be a psychological thriller when it is just confusing. Throwing nasty-looking red-necks in your movie is a cheap way to convey "atmosphere". I ran out of patience with it a long time before the last act, but I was having too much fun with my friends doing MST3K riffs to turn it off. Since leaving Buffy, SMG has had 2 successful movies, if even listing "Scooby Doo" on your resume could count. Gellar is a fine actress, but she (or her agent) sure can't find a vehicle for her. And Mr. Shepard, if you are having trouble paying your mortgage, I'll send you a few bucks if you promise to not appear in a movie like this again! ( Also, the estate of Patsy Cline should sue for defamation! )
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I had high hopes for this film. Not particularly a big fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar but she isn't a bad actress by any means and provided my teen years with countless horror movies I enjoyed.
That unfortunately is where the connection stops. I am not even sure this title should fall in the horror section, which is where I found it placed in my local blockbuster.
The film starts off well, keeps you guessing and involved. However as it goes on I find I am constantly looking at my DVD timer thinking,...hmmm we are 45 mins in and nothing substantial has happened yet.
This is indeed one of those films you'll get bored and itchy and glance at the back of the DVD case to see the runtime minutes. Up until the end I kept looking at these runtime minutes at the back assuming it must be wrong,..nothing has happened.
Unfortunately it wasn't wrong. It was another movie where the credits seem to pop up at the most inappropriate times claiming the film/script is finished.
No its not,...and thats why it doesn't deserve anymore than a 3 rating.
And the film and story (if you can call it that), is very confusing and unrealistic. I'd think its fair to say this film never intended to be realistic but the parallels between the dimensions of reality and fiction are just too blurred and silly. Watch "the jacket" for a much much better demonstration of where this practice truly works. -
Red_Identity9 December 2007This film is NOT a horror film The reason it probably flopped and why a lot of teens hate it is because it was marketed as a horror film. IT IS NOT It is very slow-paced, but some scenes are so beautiful. The atmosphere is dark. THIS IS THE WAY THRILLERS SHOULD BE. The film is either love it or hate it. If you were expecting a top- notch action horror film, you'll hate it. But as for me, the main storyline was well-delivered. Sarah Michelle Gellar's acting is also very good. IT ALSO TEACHES A LESSON. There are some also very beautiful outdoors scenes that make the film even better.This is better than the average thrillers. Unlike other supernatural films(The Grudge and The Ring) i found this to be better. Who said thrillers had to be scary? This is more realistic than others, and for that, it is.
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Horror_Fan0124 February 2007OK i will admit, it started out very pleasing and good, but then it just dropped downhill, i cannot believe Sarah Michelle Gellar could have even finished reading the script after about 5 minutes into the movie, the only reason i actually sat through the whole movie, was i wanted to see the twist at the ned, and to my surprise, well, folks i cannot even tell you if there ven was one, because the end just leaves you confused, and then the credit role, i was like what the hell? this did not deserve a theater run, i am sorry, but it didn't i mean it was horrible, the only reaso i gave it a 4 is because it had a few jumpy parts...thats it! you can watch it, im not telling you not to, hey you might even like it or even love it! but if you hate it, don't say i didn't warn you!
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LennonBlake11 November 2006This was far and away the worst movie i've ever seen in my entire life. It was slow, boring, not scary, not funny, not dramatic, not entertaining.
Sarah Michelle Gellar was up to her old playbook of empty expressions of fright and shock. She couldn't sell her character nor could anyone else in the picture.
For those who thought the Grudge was 'kind of alright' then don't go see this unless you get enjoyment out of wasting your time and your life.
I saw this movie for free by the way so I don't want this to come across as a rant from a guy that lost 8 bucks on a terrible movie. It was free, it still sucked, I hated it.
Avoid. -
claudio_carvalho13 September 2007The restless sales representative of a transport company Joanna Mills (Sarah Michelle Gellar) travels from Saint Louis to Texas in a business trip. She is haunted by violent visions and after meeting her client, she visits her lonely father. On the next morning, she decides to visit La Salle, a small town where she has never been before, but she had recollections of many locations. She lodges in a hotel and later she meets and is befriended by the local widower Terry Stahl (Peter O'Brien), who helps her from an aggression. Her daydreams and nightmares increase and she becomes obsessed for disclosing the truth about her visions of a brutal murder of a woman in a barn. Along her investigation, Joanna gets close to the killer and feels that her life is in danger.
I bought this DVD first because I am a huge fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar, the eternal Buffy, and also because I like supernatural stories. Fortunately I have disregarded the low IMDb User Rating since this film is an underrated supernatural thriller. The plot explores the concept of reincarnation in an adequate pace, unraveling the mystery in the last scenes. The direction is sharp and Sarah gives credibility to her character. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "O Retorno" ("The Return") -
dfa12037419 January 2015Since the age of 11, Joanna Mills has been having strange visions but doesn't know the reason why. When her latest business trip takes her to Texas, she decides to visit her dad and also a small town called La Salle that's been in her visions. It's here she also meets Terry, a seemingly troubled individual that has been alienated by the towns residents. Joanna's visions continue, but they start to become more vivid and the more she sees, the more she starts to understand what is going on and not all secrets remain unknown.
The Return is one of those films where the ending saves it from completely bombing, reason being is because the 70 minutes preceding the end scenes are so slow they make watching cricket seem exciting. Don't get me wrong...the story itself is actually pretty good (even if it's not that original) and I don't usually mind a slower-paced film, but the execution is what let's it down for me. You actually sit there hoping the ending saves the film, and it does. Just.
It's also a pretty complex story and is one that you most definitely have to pay attention to right from the very start. If you don't then you will have no hope of understanding it. One other thing...if you're expecting some kind of creepy, scary horror then you'll need to keep looking as this most definitely isn't one of those films. There is some decent suspense to it - eventually - but overall it's hardly a gripping tale and it most definitely is NOT a horror film.
The acting is also pretty wooden throughout, and I really do think that Sarah Michelle Gellar is completely overrated, especially in this role, because she just seems to wander through it aimlessly with the odd few "scream queen" moments. I really can't understand some of the rave reviews that The Return has been given by some people as it really is just - apart from the last 10 minutes or so - a bit of a snore-fest.
It's definitely not the best and you're not missing that much if you choose not to see it. -
Bmovie10 November 2006There are attractions to this film. One, it proceeds at its own pace specific to the revelations the main character achieves. Some would say it moves too slowly but, I think, this is only in contrast to recent genre films that rush to exploit thrills, sometimes fun, sometimes silly. The pace is more like that of classic mystery movies with a little film noir mixed in.
The atmosphere is somewhat reminiscent of recent Japanese horror films and remakes though the narrative is much more structured. This is emphasized by the "washed out" look of the photography even in direct sunlight. Of course, parts of Texas where much of this was shot appear a little washed out in reality. While this is not especially flattering to the actors, it underscores the uncertainty the characters must endure. (Congratulations to Ms. Gellar for acceding to this when most actresses are looking for every cinematographic advantage they can get!)
The film is more about character and the discovery of destiny than about complex plot or even surprises. As in many Hitchcock movies, the audience is supposed to know more about some things than the characters. Most horror and mystery fans will have a pretty good inkling of the answer the heroine is seeking well before all the loose ends are tied up. (As the "Robot Chicken" version of M. Night Shyamalan might say, "What a twist!")
Ms. Gellar must portray a repressed young woman suffering from more than one trauma from the past. She conveys effectively that her character is confused, haunted, resolute, scared, brave and smart enough to make her way in a good ole boy business world. She cannot accept help even from the few who are closest to her. Her premonitions (memories?) lead her to out of the way places and a man with a past as tormented as her own. There is solid support from the reliable Sam Shepard and from J.C. MacKenzie in a performance that is quite a departure from his usual roles. -
rbrb11 July 2008This is an intelligent, intense and dark spiritual movie which I certainly enjoyed. A superior production and direction and in my opinion appears to be well under rated by the voters of IMDb.
A young woman is tormented by her past and "returns" to her home to discover, if she can, the reasons for her haunting recollections and the questions raised include: is she mad? Or is her past or another's' being relived through her memories? The film is appropriately made in sombre autumnal colors in keeping with the ambiance of the story,and is an adult drama.
I was impressed with all the actors especially the attractive lead female who is charismatic, convincing and highly watchable.
Well done the film-makers, a sound, 7/10. -
Coventry14 April 2007How on earth is it possible that, in this modern day & age of progressive cinema and amazing visual techniques, such redundant and out-of-date films like "The Return" still manage to find their way to theater distribution? I can't even decide what to hate most about this film, as the list of inept & pitiable aspects is almost too long to choose from. Sarah Michelle Gellar's embarrassing attempt to come across as a real actress? The total lack of logic and continuity? Or simply the fact it's an unendurably boring & soporific film that doesn't feature a single moment of action or tension? But most likely I hate it because director Asif Kapadia and writer Adam Sussman haven't even got an actual story to tell and simply attempt to tie together the loose ends of something that vaguely resembles a supernatural thriller/ghosts-from-the-past melodrama. I watched this dull turkey at the Belgian Festival of Horror & Fantasy Films and the spontaneous reactions of the audience didn't lie. "The Return" honestly deserved all the BOOH's and BOOOOOOORING's that were disrespectfully yelled at the screen. They want us to believe Gellar is a successful young saleswoman on her way to close up a million Dollar deal in the Texan area where she grew up. The poor woman is haunted by visions of a murder that occurred in the area almost 15 years ago and, even though she doesn't recognize the man in her dreams, she feels connected to him and carefully seeks contact. A whole lot of boredom and pointless sub plot later, there's the climax that doesn't make the slightest bit of sense and won't shock or surprise even the smallest child. I tremendously disliked the recent mystery-thriller "The Messengers" because it shamelessly presented an endless number false frights and clichés, but that film is honestly a masterpiece compared to "The Return", as the latter features nothing! Not even a single slamming door or random ghostly appearance in a mirror. The plot is often more incoherent than the ones of low-budget B-movies of the 70's, as some supportive characters inexplicably disappear and others abruptly enter the scene without being introduced. Sam Shepard, the only decent player in the entire film, is dreadfully underused while the awful TV-actor Peter O'Brien gives away a terrible performance. Roman Osnin provides the film with a handful of beautifully shot images that actually deserved to be in a better film. Some people claimed that "The Return" turned out a lot better because they didn't expect to see a horror film. Well, I think that no matter what genre you're expecting to see, it'll always remain a dire film.
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christian1236 June 2007Joanna Mills is a tough young Midwesterner determined to learn the truth behind the increasingly terrifying supernatural visions that have been haunting her.
The Return offers a decent storyline that's bogged down by tedious pacing and stiff performances. It's disappointing that the studio decided to market this film as a horror movie since it was really a drama with a supernatural hook to it. The first hour is so hard to sit through because the director moved everything at such a crawling pace. It might just be me but listening to the same clues and watching the same flashbacks over and over again does get pretty annoying. The story is literally at a standstill until the one hour mark.
When the plot finally reaches its boiling point, it does so far past the point of audience involvement or genuine concern. The characters were not engaging enough for me to care about them and absolutely nothing happened in the first hour so there was very little to actually be interested in. When things start to pick up, the suspense is pretty low and the ending wasn't really that great. It was something a little different compared to most films that come out these days but it still wasn't good enough to compensate for everything the audience had to sit through.
Sarah Michelle Gellar was so wooden and uninteresting. She moved at such a slow pace and all of her actions were done very slowly to my annoyance. She gave her lines without emotion and she just looked bored throughout the entire thing. J.C. MacKenzie gave the best performance out of everyone although that's not much of a compliment. He had a few effective scenes as the twisted psycho. Peter O'Brien was just as emotionless as Sarah and it was very yawn inducing to watch them on screen together. Overall, The Return is a tough film to sit through mainly because it's so dull. I only recommend checking it out if you're a big fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar otherwise just skip it. Rating 3/10 -
Agnelin26 August 2007I watched "The return" yesterday and I have mixed feelings about it. People who come to this movie expecting a horror flick, or an action-packed thriller, will be bitterly disappointed. I would define it as a drama based on supernatural elements. And, as a drama, it's a very slow-paced one, so be prepared for it.
What I appreciated most about this movie is the director's style. It's a brand new way of making a horror movie. It relies on the settings and the personality of the characters to create an atmosphere of anguish and claustrophobia. And in this, it succeeds. The movie actually transmitted me feelings of loneliness, menace, and doom, and if it does the same for you, you should just let yourself go with those feelings, because that's the power of the movie.
Other than that, the central mystery is pretty meager and easy to see after a while. The ending might be a shocker for some, but I don't think it will be for the majority of people. If you're looking for a powerful story based on surprise and shock, I certainly don't recommend this movie.
However, it can be a delightful experience for those who are interested in new styles of making movies in the overexploited genre of horror and mystery. Also, the acting is very good; I especially liked Sarah Michelle Gellar, and her fans should see it too. -
oshram-313 November 2006Moviegoers are basically stupid. We fork over hard-earned (well, in some cases) cash for 90 to 120 minutes of theoretical enjoyment. So far so good, and we as a public are willing to buy into the idea that our six bucks entitle us to an hour-and-a-half of escapism. The problem is that going to see a movie is a crapshoot under the best of circumstances, and, well, in the worst case, it can be the grounds for a class-action lawsuit against the studio for a severe case of libel, i.e. they promised us this would be interesting, shocking, fun, etc.
None of which The Return is. And, honestly, I knew it was going to be weak when I saw the trailer. It looked like a retread of The Grudge, another Sarah Michelle Gellar joint (also a fairly craptacular movie but at least that took place in Japan), and, yes, I went to see the movie for the girl. So color me double stupid for expecting anything else. I pretty much figured I would sit through a tepid remake of a tepid remake, I was prepared for that.
But I was not prepared for the mind-numbing banality that is The Return. Gellar plays Joanna Mills, a woman so devoid of a personality or any human characteristics it's extremely hard to be interested in her, let alone care about her. Joanna is apparently seeing things (dead people, a possible killer, a mysterious tavern) and these visions lead her to some nowhere town in Texas where everything is a pasty brown and everyone acts strangely, and they ALL act as if they know something we don't, which of course they do, because we are never told what in the hell is going on.
I mean it. I literally had no idea what in the hell was going on through the first two-thirds of this movie. Joanna goes through the motions of tracking down what's going on in her visions, but she picks up clues because she needs to, not because it makes any sense that she does. The movie does eventually disclose what happened, but much like an Agatha Christie novel, there's no damn way you could have figured it out and even when you are told, it isn't very satisfying. And then we are only given Joanna's possible connection to the main story in a teaser at the end of the film, by which point we don't care what half-assed plot twists might be in store, we just want to get the hell out of there as quickly as we can.
It isn't a horror film, as the trailer promises. If only it were a retread of The Grudge, that might have merely been bad. But The Return takes boring to a whole new level. Watching Gellar play a character a good 50 IQ points lower than she is was painful, and I wondered over and over what the hell she could have been thinking in taking this role (can she really need the money that bad?). Maybe it's because I've seen her be so good in just about everything else she's done (even the later embarrassing seasons of Buffy come off like Shakespeare next to this leaden claptrap), but this is the kind of film you only do for love, money, exposure, or because you lost a bet. So I hereby pardon everyone else in the film (an impressively uncharismatic bunch of unknowns and unrecognizables, except for the one actor who had a recurring role on Dark Angel, and that tells you a lot about the average talent level Sarah ended up working with here) as, hell, a break is a break. But I can't fathom what in the hell Sarah was thinking in accepting a script this tepid.
I've beaten this dead horse enough. This is the worst film I've seen this year, and I've seen Ultraviolet. If that isn't enough to scare you away from this movie, then you must have as little common sense as the characters in the film itself. I'll put it more clearly than the movie could: DON'T GO. -
ashleypjames13 November 2006Not a great film, but better than Grudge 2, which was woeful.
There is a reason why people will like this film....they are 12 -17 year olds which is who the intended audience is. Yes it tied together at the end....by then i was eying my watch hoping the film didn't make it past the 90min mark. Thank gawd it didn't! I also found the continued focus on the Dodge Ram 1500 annoying...why was this done, there is no reason. Yes she is driving a truck...we got that in the first few scenes. One other annoying aspect of the film were the many scenery shots: barren land, or a sunset or a road. To many and it looks like you are trying 'fill' the movie to make 87mins. The story was interesting, the script was well...poor. It was the writers second show so he can only improve on the material he has written. -
It's possible for a horror film to have a dreadful story, awful effects, risible acting, or an incomprehensible plot, and yet somehow still manage to entertain. What is unforgivable, however, is if a scary movie is boring; The Return will have you comatose within an hour, drool running off your chin! The film tried so hard to be mysterious and creepy in the first 60 minutes (but still failed), that by the time it attempted to explain what the hell was going on, I just didn't give a damn. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a young business woman who suffers from nightmarish visions. Unwisely following clues revealed to her in these 'dreams', she discovers the truth behind a murder that occurred 15 years before. After much tedium and unfathomable 'plot development', a lame Shyalaman-style denouement eventually puts viewers out of their misery. With absolutely no atmosphere, Gellar portraying a character with less depth than Daphne in Scooby Doo, and only a couple of cheap mechanical scares eliciting any kind of reaction from this viewer, The Return is a dull, pointless pile of cack that should be avoided at all costs. In fact, anyone who manages to watch the whole mess without falling asleep should be awarded some kind of medal to mark their achievement.
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Probablyforme27 February 2007Seemed like there was supposed to be a good movie in here. I have no idea what kind of script changes this thing went through, but the bare bones concept was intriguing.
More and more it seems like these horror/thrillers are director's wet dreams, meaning that the story was buried under cool cinematography and vein director shots instead of narrative. The flashbacks were intriguing, perhaps because of the presents of Sam Shepard and the Mole in the ground song, but over all it was a seriously lacking movie.
People always wonder how these movie get made. Hollywood most likely doesn't buy a bad scripts, but the directors and dev. people ruin them along the way. This might be the case here. -
nikhilvarma892 November 2006I got to see the advance screening of this movie too, way in advance though it wasn't a star studded screening.
About the movie, one thing must be said is that this movie is really interesting and mysterious though it cannot be compared to other movies like saw, mindhunters as this movie does not have gore at all.
It can be compared to the butterfly effect as it has that supernatural kind of story which is very well written and i will go on to say that to me this was better than the butterfly effect. Most importantly the acting is top of the line from all the actors specially Sarah's. The way this movie is directed is also very intriguing and i really have to admire Asif's direction.
Well if you want to watch an amazing, interesting and kind of a thriller movie you must watch this as it is certainly worth a watch.
7/10 -
poyrazbaklan2 December 2012So rarely would I be let down by movies I had no hopes of, yet the Return managed just that. I only heard that it had a rather silly premise but still wanted to see it just because of Sarah Michelle Gellar. I know her Buffy years are over, I know her career is in a rather steep decline and she wasn't much of a good actor to begin with; but still. And still I was disappointed. They managed to create characters that there is no way you can relate to. You are not informed in the beginning enough to care about them. Yes, something has happened to SMG when she was small and yes she is haunted by it, but the mystery is never enough to draw you in. You just watch the movie, kept awake by the few scares it offers and then get the revelation in the end, which is not very interesting at all. The rest is her just trying to look scared and/or mystified. I am not going give away the twist at the end, because I am not sure if you can call it a twist. But I can say it is illogical(duh, supernatural), uninteresting and uninspired.
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sonicfloodandavalon21712 November 2006Read the above title. The thing you need to realize is when you go into the movie is that it is a suspense thriller, not a horror film like Saw or The Grudge. I know this because I went with my best friend to see the film and he hates horror films, but he loved this movie as did I...You need to go into the movie with some things in mind. One, it is a low budget film, it's released through Rogue Pictures, from what I have heard, it is an indie film and therefore its not going to be on the same par as some of the other films that are out there today. Two, think more along the lines of "What Lies Beneath" and not along the lines of "The Grudge". I thought it was very creative, the way it was filmed and the way the story panned out. You may not figure everything out until the last 15 minutes of the movie, but I am sorry, I actually enjoy movies like that and not ones that are going to give everything away to you in the first ten minutes of the movie. Sarah Michelle Gellar does an excellent job in this film. I think it's just good all around. It's a good film to see if you want to be in suspense, but not be grossed out like Saw does.
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No saguaro and a whole lot of stubby trees with thorns. Yup.
For those who've been to the area, it's very distinct, and this movie gives a good visual feel for what the area around San Antonio and central Texas looks like.
SMG's character wants to come back to Texas for work to get a shipping contract for her company, and it's a realistic job for the area, as well as a realistic position to have a "face" like Sarah Michelle Gellar in that kind of business. She's very realistic as one who goes to make deals with businesses, and she's completely believable in that role.
The exchange with her boss is realistic and great. The coworker jealous of her success makes sense to begin with... and then less so partway through.
There are other reviews that discuss more plot. I watched this cold, pulling it from a horror movie 4 pack, without even a menu screen. I was not disappointed, and letting it unfold without knowing anything about it probably made it more enjoyable.
I'll just address in vaguest terms minor issues I found that on viewing, you might see... or might not.
The movie has what seems like a few jarring errors that could be solved with a few lines of dialog. Without spoiling any plot elements (these are all peripheral issues):
1. What's up with jealous coworker after the first scene?
2. Why is she staying in that dismal hotel? Were there no other choices available? What woman chooses to stay somewhere that looks like that?
3. Why does a character give a warning where the character clearly knows why they're giving the warning but provides no substance to the warning? And why doesn't SMG just ask "why are you warning me about that" or "what's the story"?
4. Why don't people talk about the problems they know about when someone is clearly interested in them in more than a superficial way?
There are a few plot errors/bad decisions that seem needless and easily fixable with a couple lines of dialog, and they're not "turn your brain off" bad, but they're what takes the movie from great to just pretty good.
The visuals are fantastic, there's good use of showing changes in time, and aside from a couple scenes that drag a bit (and not in a bad way), its pretty solid. -
jp_5100411 November 2006I think a round of applause is in order for whoever pieced together the trailer for Rogue Pictures' latest release, 'The Return'. I myself, along with everyone else have been duped into believing it is in fact a horror film. On the contrary though, its actually a supernatural thriller. Too bad it is not the least bit thrilling.
'The Return' stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Joanna Mills, a young woman who has had personal problems since the age of eleven. It was at that age that she began having haunting visions depicting the murder of a woman whom she has never met. While in Texas on a business trip, she is led by these visions to the murdered woman's hometown, La Salle. There she comes face to face with another person who has frequently appeared in her visions. A man by the name of Terry Stahl, who is played by Peter O'Brien. Joanna is now on a desperate search for answers. A search that could in the end result in her very own murder.
I really don't know where to begin here folks. Which should I mention first? The atrocious acting, hideous directing, or the terribly bland story? No matter which one I choose my point behind each is the same: they simply suck. Adam Sussman's screenplay is downright moronic. Its not interesting. Its not compelling. Its just plain unpleasant. I kept waiting for something to jumpstart the "film" (I've placed quotations around film because I don't believe 'The Return' deserves to be called an actual film due to it's foulness.) and at least give it some slight chance of hope, but nothing ever happened. I was left out in an unbearable cold to freeze. Not even stellar performances from the actors themselves could have saved this disaster. Of course they probably knew this having read the script then agreeing to do the "film". I assume this is why the acting was so awful. At least that's what I'm choosing to believe. I really hope the cast doesn't pride themselves on their performances. They need immediate medical attention if they do.
Now the directing was unmistakably bad, but I can't quite crucify Asif Kapadia entirely. (Well I could, but I won't since I'm such a nice guy.) I look at 'The Return' as a test for Kapadia because for all of you that don't know, this is his first full-length feature "film". He's just getting his foot in the door and still learning. Next time around, well if there is a next time, hopefully he will have improved vastly. The only thing he was able to accomplish here was almost completely duplicating the visual style of Marcus Nispel's 2003 re-make of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. Now that's nice the "film" was given that, but unfortunately he still won't be receiving any kudos from me for that. Copying someone else's work isn't something I consider to be praise worthy. (Even if it is from a film I very much enjoyed.)
I think Jim Sonzero's American re-make of 'Pulse' will now have to fork over the title of Worst Film of the Year to 'The Return'. It beyond question is deserving of the title in almost every imaginable way. Now I don't doubt this will make a small, and I mean very small, profit. No matter what though, it won't surpass or even parallel the fluke success of Gellar's previous acting effort, 'The Grudge'. On that note, there's one last thing I'd like to add. I can honestly say I had never been embarrassed to have been seen leaving a theater auditorium until seeing 'The Return'. That is something I never wish to experience again, along with the "film" itself.