6½ Pies

Reviewed by Limey

Plot Summary

A depressed and self medicating former FBI agent that moved from Los Angeles to Chicago to escape the case that almost ruined him is horrified to find that the serial killer has followed him.

Review

For me, this is one of those movies that came from nowhere, one of those films that you stumble across years after its release having never before heard of it and thus having no idea what anybody else thinks of it, but you yourself fall in love with.

This all happened about four or five years ago now, when I happened across the video amongst my brother's collection. After watching the film, I must confess to being both surprised and confused to find that seemingly everyone else hated it. Having just rewatched it (not for the first time) I am just as confused now as I was then.

It is admittedly far from being a perfect picture; however the only major issue I have is when it occasionally chooses to toss aside its potential as a psychological thriller in favour of explosive set pieces, which doesn't automatically mean that the film is bad – just that it could have been a lot more.

So, as frustrating as it is to think about what could have been, the movie that was actually made kept me entertained throughout the first time I watched it and did so again today, with not one thought of any flaws until I just forced myself to find one.

Quotes:

Joel Campbell : It's never quite that easy. You go through the door, and they're never just sitting there waiting for you with a welcoming smile on their face. Best you can do is hope they fuck up and do what you can to be there when they do.

David Allen Griffin : I remember clearly what I felt when I heard your footsteps falling behind me. Pride. I thought it would keep us together forever. For me it was our finest moment. I can still see the flames.

Spook Factor: ½ Pie

As much as I love the direction, the chosen style does detract from the spookiness at times. Still, you cannot help but be affected as you watch Griffin select and charm his victims, growing to like them yourself, knowing all the while that you will soon witness their final, lonely, horrifying moments at his hands.

Antagonist: ¾ Pie

Frankly, the only reason he doesn't get to enjoy an entire Pie is because that is what I gave to such luminaries as Norman Bates and overlooked legends as Mark Lewis, and he really isn't in anything approaching the same league. He did, though, keep me riveted to the screen and intrigued by his motivations and desires.

Story: ½ Pie

I am perpetually fascinated by stories that deal with two very different people and their response to and sometimes reliance on each other, so I loved that aspect of the story, as I did the investigation into the apathy of modern society.

Despite those strengths, the score has to be this low because someone somewhere lacked the confidence (or commitment) to take either concept to its limit and instead the film backs off in favour of genre standards.

Acting: ¾ Pie

Though everyone does their best with their roles regardless of how thinly written they are, how little screen time they are given, or whether they even wanted to be in the film, James Spader turns in a true stand out performance, carrying the film on his back from the get go.

Directing: ¾ Pie

I adore the direction, and the style and the ambience that it creates in several key scenes. The flash does sometimes risk losing the heart of the scenes; however, that mainly happens shortly before the interesting story elements are ditched in favour of high speed chases through the city, so it all balances out.

As an aside, I cannot get my head around the fact that Charbanic has never directed another feature film; it may not have been a huge hit, but it is good, and his direction is leaps and bounds better than some other directors that are constantly working on one huge project after another.

Soundtrack: 1 Pie

I truly enjoyed the entire soundtrack, even ‘Dragula', which is saying something as under no circumstances would I ever call myself a fan of Rob Zombie as a musician or filmmaker. The main reason I rank it so highly, though, is because of the original score, perhaps the true star of the entire film; Marco Beltrami is one of the greatest film composers working today, period.

Special Effects: ½ Pie

You remember when I said not one flaw occurred to me until I forced myself to find one after having watched the film? I lied. The CGI explosion at the end is ridiculously awful. The only reason it scores so highly is that the more practical effects, including another explosion earlier in the film, are much more impressive.

Gore: ½ Pie

This is a cheat, as the only gore is a few drops of blood on the floor and some dried blood around the throat. The problem is that I feel that was all that was needed and any more would have been less effective, and so it deserves a decent score.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: ¾ Pie

I have watched it many times over the years, and I will do so again because it succeeds where so many others fail – in being enjoyable.

Pros

The half of the production that gave us strong performances on both sides of the camera and the part of the story that focuses on the relationship between the hunter, the hunted and the world that they live in.

Cons

The half of the production that relies on generic action sequences and a completely unconvincing computer generated explosion at the expense of the more interesting and successful human drama.

Final Word

As has happened before and will no doubt happen again, a favoured film has come out with a low to average score. It can happen the other way around, too, and it is a good thing both ways as it means that whatever my opinion of a film is, you will be able to judge its merits via a slightly less subjective score than most reviews.

However, I still stand by the opinion that - the lousy CGI aside - none of the flaws have a chance to rear their ugly heads until you have already been swept through to the end of the entertaining ride known as ‘The Watcher', no matter how many times you buy a ticket.

Time's up.