Is it a comedy or a drama? Is it a satire or is it simply farcical?
From the outset, it's hard to tell. It's also badly directed. De Palma uses his scoring style from the 70's, which in turn was like a homage to Hitchcock, but it worked then. The music feels very out of place immediately and its jarring.
He has made some great films, no question. But it's been over 20 years since he's made a decent one. Or even one that wasn't terrible. Mission to Mars, for example, is absolutely woeful. And Domino isn't far off.
He takes some great actors, four significant ones, and makes them look like amateur theatre performers. I'm embarrassed for them.
A split screen sequence in the middle is quite dramatic but it's not as horrifying as it should be. The scriptwriter must take much of the blame too. The emotional portions feel like they're not written by an adult.
There are potential ideas here; you have topical and political notions but they're badly executed. Excuse the pun.
A basic fight scene is amateurish. Lazy directing. Was De Palma sick that day? Is this a TV movie? It's all over the place.
De Palma has tarnished his own reputation. Most directors falter in old age. But most will still strike upon a decent film every now and then. De Palma should retire. This is a bad movie, following a string of bad movies.
He really did make some great pictures back in the 70's and early 80's. And yet, despite the recent documentary about him in which he mostly sung his own praises, he is not of the calibre of some of his contemporaries such as Francis Ford Coppola, Marty Scorsese and others.
If you haven't seen his earlier work, check out Body Double, Carrie or Blow Out. Alas Brian, we knew him well. Before he lost his touch.
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