Blind Horizon
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Movie Reviews of Blind Horizon
Movie Review: I had no expectations anyway.
Summary: 2 Stars
ichael Haussman's over-directed conspiracy thriller takes place in a small desert town in New Mexico and recalls a bad episode of The X-Files, with Val Kilmer as an amnesiac Mulder to Sam Shepard's Cigarette-Smoking Man. Frank Kavanaugh (Kilmer) wakes up from a coma and starts having flashbacks that lead him to believe that the President of the United States is going to be assassinated. Among the shady lot of characters occupying the man's periphery: Faye Dunaway's Ms. K, who may be mediating the plot against the President; Shepard's small town sheriff, whose cowboy hat isn't to be trusted; Neve Campbell as the grieving girlfriend; and Amy Smart as a fidgety, chain-smoking nurse. Naturally, nothing is what it seems. More specifically: The more conspicuous the behavior (like, say, smoking inside a hospital room or wearing an unexplained bandage across one's nose), the more blameless the person. Beyond Horizon is no fun, not so much because of all the rote tricks up its sleeve, but because of a flashy aesthetic that doesn't so much bring to mind an indie-minded In the Line of Fire as much as it does a Hollywood thriller like The Ring that's predicated on all sorts of loud noises and flashing images. Every time Frank has a flashback, it's the equivalent of watching someone piece together a 500-count puzzle. Haussman, whose most famous work to date is Madonna's over-bloated "Take A Bow" music video, doesn't exactly afflict his protagonist with amnesia. By the looks of it, he caught whatever Patricia Arquette had in Stigmata.Movie Review: OVER-COOKED, UNDER-WHELMING
Summary: 2 Stars
He's shot on a remote arid pasture of New Mexico. Loses his memory. Wakes up on a hospital cot with all these flashes, you know, US president being assassinated by snipers and all that jazz. No one quite comprehends what White House has to do with this forlorn desert but that's the rote mystery of it all.
Intriguing setup? Well, borderline. But the execution is so flaky, so pseudo-MTV like, it annoys more than it entertains. Strange characters spring up periodically for no rhyme or reason, accompanied by high octane outbursts of sepia and B&W -- flashbacks one concludes.
All of which resolves into a painfully deja vu plot. Every time a clue comes up it feels like a stray clip from a Depeche Mode video. The experience is grating, not so much for all the adoloscent 'twists' up its sleeve, certainly not for a lack of top stars (Val Kilmer, Neve Campbell, Sam Shepard), but for its aesthetic predicated on sudden bass thumps and scattershot imagery.
In other words, a loud B-grade thriller that induces amnesia in its audience faster than its own protagonist could try and remember.
Movie Review: Moody but Confusing
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm still not sure what happened at the end, and I don't feel inclined to watch it again. The plusses? Well-photographed with some nice moody Tex-Mex scenes. Sam Shepard I liked as the friendly cigar smoking sherrif. Val Kilmer was OK but it would have killed him to wash his hair? The female roles were OK and predictable. The American movie industry again tries to persuade us that a multiple killer/assassin hired to shoot the President; who in one flashback kills a man in front of his child; and in another murders a victim in a confessional, is just a little misunderstood and needs the right woman to set him straight. Aw shucks who couldn't forgive that toothy grin.Movie Review: Who is the man in the red car? More importantly who cares?
Summary: 2 Stars
If you've seen one thriller of this type you've seen them all. Well, at least you've seen this one. Uninteresting. Unoriginal. Implausible. I wasted two hours of my life so you don't have to. Of course, if you've never ever seen a movie or TV show before you might find this interesting. But if you have, be warned.Movie Review: Dull, Muddled Thriller Starring Val Kilmer & Neve Campbell
Summary: 1 Stars
'Blind Horizon' stars Val Kilmer as Frank, amnesiac patient found at New Mexico desert, near the town of Black Point. Because of the wound inflicted by a gunshot, he severely suffers from a headache and memory loss, but Frank somehow 'remembers' something very important concerning the US presidential campaign. In fact, it might possibly be a plan to assassinate the president.
Despite the bad script and acting, the name of the actors are pretty impressive. In addition to Val Kilmer, they include Neve Campbell (Frank's girlfriend), Amy Smart (nurse who fell foe him), Sam Shepard (a sherif), Noble Willingham (his deputy), Gil Bellows (Frank's doctor), Giancarlo Esposito (a nosy journalist), and special appearance by Faye Dunaway.
[VERY CONFUSING WRAP-UP] Some may rightly say that anmesia has been already used too much in thrillers in the past, and is no longer a way to interest the jaded eyes of the moviegoers. But the real problem is not that here. Though the initial situation surrounding the main characters are fairly intriguing, the film soon loses its course, and meanders into the series of confusing flashbacks and unnecessary subplots while the main plot itself about Frank and the truths about his past is no secret to the fans who can easily foresee the results. What is the meaning of the numbers on the card? Who are these two heavies in suits? Most importantly, who am I? To most of you, it's an easy guess.
The film is not only predictable, but confusing as it goes on. Many suspicious-looking characters turn up -- that's ok -- but none of them make sense after all. Someone please give me a reasonable explanation as to, say, the identity of Faye Dunaway's character. Or, why did Frank have to be shot in the first place? What's the motive? Speaking of which, what do these people want to do? Except the nurse worrying about Frank and the local sheriff investigating the case, no one seems to know what they are doing.
Director Michael Haussman (known for his music videos including Madonna's 'Take a Bow' and many commercials) certainly gives stylish images, but none of them help to engage our attention, as there is nothing that makes you want to know more about the 'mystery' or characters. Though some supporting actors are doing pretty good jobs (especially Amy Smart and Sam Shephard), the acting of the two leads is not good, and the dialogues poorly written.
This is a typical case of films coming from Lions Gate Films/Millennium Films. It shows at some film festival, then disappears, and turns up on cable TV or as straight-to-video. I don't say these company's films are all bad; still, it is also true that when I see these logos, my heart starts to sink, sensing something onimous coming. This time, my instinct proved right again.