Film Filter: Off - Case 39

Film Filter: Off- I have to say that this movie was pretty decent. It could be that I went into the film with zero expectations, as I had never heard of it, but I'd like to think that it was a pretty good film regardless.

Pros- I'm not going to say it was good or bad, but INTERESTING that Bradley Cooper played a serious role. Okay, it was kind of bad, but I appreciate that he did it.  He is sort of type-cast by his good looking, nonchalant, douche-baggy, funny guy roles, which he can do well with. In this film he plays a serious counselor working with children, with no douche-baggery as part of the role. Again, not bad, but weird as hell. Lest we not mention that if my counselor looked like THAT I would have...well, never mind. (insert blushing emoticon)
   I will also say that the plot was pretty unique. While possessed persons/children is a popular concept, this one is executed well and has a few twists along the way. I also thought that they cast Lily very well. She was able to portray all aspects of the personality cleanly, and believably. It was also interesting that Lily was kept around longer in the story than we would expect...I don't necessarily think it was the BEST plot direction, as it verged on dragging out the story, but it was unexpected for sure.

Cons- Maybe I'm just a tramp of horror flicks, but I saw a lot of the twists and surprises coming. Nowadays, it is quite challenging to make a good thriller or scary movie that's NOT predictable in some fashion, so I guess I can give them props for trying.
   One of the things I came out of this film confused about, though, was the way they wanted Lily to be portrayed. As I said, the young actress does a remarkable job, but her character- to me- is inconsistent. So she's a demon. She's not a little girl possessed by a demon, she straight up IS a demon. She starts by finding a vulnerable person (Zellweger) to latch on to, and then kills everyone around them by accessing their deepest fears and killing them via their greatest nightmare. She does this because she "wants to be loved" and have a family. A family that she can manipulate because if they don't obey her every wish, someone they love will die. So, she's a demon who likes to murder and terrorize, but she "just wants to be loved" and keeps Zellweger around to make her feel like a real child in a stable family.
   Okay...choose your personality already! I can see this perspective if they were showing the inner turmoil of a young girl, unwillingly possessed by an unearthly force, but it has already been established in the story that she is who she is, and she has no problems with that. Perhaps her intent in vocalizing her desires to be "normal" and "loved" are just meant to be conniving and contradictory, which would make sense if that was how they were directed, but it's hard to tell.
   Lastly, I'm going to again bring up my distaste for movies that don't adequately tie up loose ends. Zellweger's mother gets brought up several times in the story, and there is even a vivid flashback at the end involving her. We don't, however, get enough information about her and what happened to successfully understand what's going on in the flashback and why her mother's personality is so strange. It gets touched upon, but again, not enough for my liking.

Wrap-up- Overall, this is a good movie. There aren't any wow factors, or noticeable things that make it stand out from the thriller crowd, but it's pretty good.

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