• It is a disappointment coming off of Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter from Egoyan (and gets lost a bit in 1999’s incredible year)– but certainly much stronger than the average film made by anyone else
  • Opens with a gorgeous long floating tracking shot through an immaculately designed period interior—like the opening of The Irishman meets the home of Todd Haynes Far From Heaven (both films after this of course)
  • It was jungle green in Exotica, red and green in The Adjuster, a sky blue in The Sweet Hereafter– Egoyan is back with his dedication to a specific color scheme design throughout his mise-en-scene here- it is a green and brown—but a lighter green- almost like a mint—it is there in Bob Hoskins’ car, the green stripe of paint running through the factory, his house phone, his green jammies, the machines at the factory and headphones he and other works at the factory wear—there’s no mistaking the intention and specifically behind the design.
  • That level of meticulous in the design of the house in that opening shot, and the color— matches character and narrative—as Hoskins’  Joe Hilditchih is a disturbed, soft-spoken, calculated, detailed character- he has a collection of his mother’s videos and appliances (she was a TV star with a cooking show from the 1950’s and he has major mommy issues)—he keeps his own fastidiously noted videos of the prostitutes he picks up
  • The flashbacks of the childhood are just in a full out green tint like an old silent film

The flashbacks of the childhood are just in a full out green tint like an old silent film

  • Paced- this is going to be a struggle for those unfamiliar with Egoyan – expecting the normal serial killer thriller film- that’s not the genre Egoyan has chosen. Egoyan has chosen the Egoyan genre
  • Mychael Danna—frequent collaborator of Egoyan—very dissonant bold score- going to polarize
  • The casting of Elaine Cassidy as the titular character is perfect- naïve and sweet- caught in Hoskins’ spider web
  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 1999