Shadows on the wall
May 2, 2002
By Rich Cline

Chinese director Chen (Farewell My Concubine) makes his English debut with this atmospheric British thriller. Pity it's such a bad movie. Alice (Graham) is an American in London, living happily with her boyfriend (Hughes) when she has a lightning-strike, love-at-first-sight moment with the darkly handsome Adam (Fiennes). Even though she knows little about Adam, she upsets her life, giving herself completely to a very lusty and energetic relationship. Then she starts getting anonymous warning letters. And Adam's fierce temper starts hinting at even more darkness beneath the surface.

There's a clear Hitchcock vibe here, complete with soaring orchestral score, swooping cameras and a willingness to put a woman in danger in the middle of bright, everyday locations. These are the best aspects of the film, which does create mysterious characters effectively. Unfortunately, once it starts to twist and reveal the secrets the whole thing comes crashing to pieces--nothing about the story hangs together, the characters become increasingly stiff and unbelievable, and the incessant red herrings finally become too much to bear. I mean, who cares whether Alice is really in danger or if she's just built up these suspicions in her mind? It starts out OK, and it looks great, but in the end this is a sub-par Sleeping with the Enemy knock-off, spiced up with kinky sex and a twisty story that just gets more idiotic with each passing second.