Sunday, April 14, 2013

Trance Review - 2½ Stars

Danny Boyle knows how to make your eyes pop.  Get a load of “Trainspotting” or “Slumdog Millionaire” or the one where James Franco gnaws off his arm and you know what I mean.  Danny’s new movie “Trance” looks smashing while it assaults your thought processes.  James McAvoy plays a security expert/art lover at a high end auction house.  Ruthless thieves led by Vincent Cassel barge in during the sale of a priceless de Goya.  McAvoy makes off with the painting and hides it and soon we learn he’s in on the heist.  Twist number one.  Then Cassel cracks McAvoy on the head setting off twist number two:  amnesia—like right out of a Hitchcock movie—“Spellbound” to be exact.  So the thieves get together, torture McAvoy, can’t get the hiding place out of him, believe his amnesia, and take him to twist number three:  Rosario Dawson, a cool elegant sexy hypnotherapist.  Then the twists get even more twisted, art mingles with life, and by the time “Trance” finishes your head spins like a top.  I love the way “Trance” looks and I like the set up, but —“Trance” throws a little too much at you just a little too often.  Sometimes a good movie needs to give you a place to breathe.  Does it deliver what it promises?  Sexy twisted crime thriller.  Is it entertaining?  Visually eye popping.  Is it worth the price of admission?  Mixed result.