Premonition

Review by Clint Morris

Like a grade-A student that blows his final exam, Sandra Bullock’s latest movie is quite impressive… right up until the final minutes that matter.

A supernatural thriller in the vein of (to use a couple of recent examples - The Butterfly Effect and The Number 23, though more akin to a little known Kathleen Turner effort from the 80s called Julia and Julia) the Mennan Yapo directed pic tells of a devoted wife and mother (Bullock) who is informed her husband (Julian McMahon) has been killed in a car crash. The next day, she awakes  to discover her husband is actually alive. There was no accident. There was no cop coming to her front door to inform her of the tragedy. There was no funeral. The day after that, he’s dead again. And so a pattern emerges.

How can she prevent the accident from happening? Whose the mysterious blonde seen at the husband’s funeral? Why does one of her daughters have cuts all over her face? And why does changing the future not necessarily benefit yours?

This imaginatively written and genuinely captivating film will both keep you guessing and keep the hairs on the back of your neck standing high. There are times when the audience will be ahead of the film (which isn’t a good position for a tricky film like this to be in, since the ruse is part of the charm) but there’s just as many moments when they’re treated to some genuinely fun and unforseen twists and turns. Quite uncommon for a Hollywood popcorn movie.

Bullock doesn’t expand past her range but she does seem a lot more engrossed in the job at hand than she has been in recent years (see Miss Congeniality 2 or The Lake House). And despite the fact that McMahon only appears in a few scenes, he and Bullock seem to have some legitimate chemistry. A moment at the end between the two is quite touching.

This is undoubtedly one of Bullock’s best movies in years, and a very enjoyable and smart picture, but the third act seems too contrived and unsatisfying, so much so that some of that good work comes undone. In addition, a couple of the intriguing characters that are built-up early on (like Peter Stomare’s shady doctor character) never go anywhere and are seemingly written out of the picture’s third act for indefinite raison d'être. 

Two out of three ain’t bad.

3.5 out of 5

Premonition
Australian release: 19th July, 2007
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Mark Famiglietti, Kate Nelligan, Nia Long
Director: Mennan Yapo
Website: Click here.