Dead Again
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Movie Reviews of Dead Again
Movie Review: Stylish, Satisfying Suspense
Summary: 4 Stars
Accomplished British actors Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson (his wife at the time this film was made), the always fascinating Derek Jacobi, and in supporting roles, Andy Garcia, German actress Hanna Schygulla, and Robin Williams, round out a stellar cast that, by itself, would make this film worth your time. They give this intriguing story of the turn of karmic wheels energy and charm. I must say that I find the review featured on Amazon by "The New Yorker" to be incomprehensible and so wide of the mark that the magazine might have been reviewing a different film. When I saw this film in New York City, audiences applauded enthusiastically at the end.
In addition to its terrific cast, "Dead Again" is well-written, fast-paced, and stylishly produced - it was also directed by its star, Branagh. It weaves together two stories of what at first seems like two distinct pairs of lovers: foreign-born conductor Roman Strauss and his pianist-wife Margaret in the post-war 1940s, and Los Angeles private investigator Mike Church and an amnesiac who cannot remember who she is in the 1990s. Both pairs of lovers are played by Branagh and Thompson. As Church and the amnesiac try to figure out why she cannot remember who she is, and why she is terrified of scissors, they keep bumping up against the forty-year mystery of Margaret's murder, for which Roman was convicted and executed. Also interested in untangling the increasingly apparent overlap between the past and the present are a slightly sinister antiques dealer with a talent for hypnosis (Jacobi), and journalist Andy Garcia, now an ancient wreck in a nursing home, who once knew both Roman and Margaret. Robin Williams makes the most of a small role as an eccentric ex-psychiatrist (unfrocked for sleeping with one of his patients) now working as a stockboy for a supermarket, whose experiences with a former patient begin to convince the doubting Church that the past may indeed be seeping into the present.
The conclusion of the film, with its unexpected twist, drew exclamations from the audience I saw this film with. The overlapping stories are woven tightly together, there isn't a boring moment in the movie, the characters are all sharply drawn, and the catchy, propulsive score is by Patrick Doyle (who also did fine scores for Branagh's "Henry V", for "Indochine", and the remake of "The End of the Affair"). The opinion of the venerable "The New Yorker" notwithstanding (perhaps it's a bit too venerable to see beyond its snobbist pseudo-intellectualism), this is an enjoyable and well-constructed suspense film.
Movie Review: Open Your Eyes, er...Grace?
Summary: 4 Stars
DEAD AGAIN is a highly underrated suspense/thriller from 1991 that was also the inspiration for Dream Theater's 1999 masterpiece SCENES FROM A MEMORY. After watching the movie and listening to the album afterwards, there are a lot of similarities in the plot. I'm not accusing DT of ripping off the story, since they put their own spin on it and the characters in SFAM have different motives than the ones in DEAD AGAIN. Personally, I perfer SFAM because it's like a movie written in music which is more original, but this movie is still worth checking out.Kenneth Branagh (who also directed the film) stars as Mike Church, a smooth L.A. investigator who knows how to talk to people and get secrets out of them. His next case, however, is much more difficult. He's assigned by a Catholic rehab center to take away one of their guests, an amnesiac woman (Emma Thompson) who doesn't talk much and keeps screaming in the middle of the night. The reason she screams is because she has nightmares of a man named Roman Strauss killing her with a pair of scissors. Mike decides to let her stay at his house, but even he doesn't know why he's suddenly drawn to her.
Out of nowhere comes a man named Franklin (Derek Jacobi) who turns out to be a hypnotherapist and is drawn to the woman's story. Franklin practices in hypnotic regression, meaning that he hypnotizes people that act like somebody else from a past life during the session. As it turns out, the woman (now called Grace by Mike) was actually Margaret Strauss, Roman's wife, in the 1940's. And in another strange twist, Mike turns out to be Roman reincarnated. Mike starts to fall hard for Grace, but when she starts to think that he might actually be Roman, that's where the tension begins to unravel.
The story is very interesting for the most part and the twists are pretty nifty, if not predictable. I like the fact that the scenes in the '40s were filmed in black and white and the scenes in 1991 were filmed in color. A perfect balance between past and present. Also, the acting is very good. There's even a hilarious supporting performance by Robin Williams as a former psychiatrist who now works at a supermarket ever since he was caught having an affair with a patient.
My only problem is that the ending is kind of disappointing. After the finale, you want more explanations. They gave enough throughout the movie, but at least one more to bring a forthright conclusion. Oh, well. That's more of a wish than a plot point. DEAD AGAIN is a solid, well-made mystery and makes for good viewing on a Friday night. Recommended.
Movie Review: A First-Rate Murder Mystery With Branagh and Thompson
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of the best murder mysteries to come out of the Nineties, and probably for some time before or since. It's Hitchcockian without being an homage. Mike Church, a private detective in Los Angeles, is called on to try to identify a young woman (Emma Thompson), given the name Grace by the Catholic order which took her in, who at first is mute. Gradually, and with the help of an antiques dealer who is a talented hypnotist (Derek Jacobi), she begins to speak and identify herself with a woman, Margaret Straus, who was murdered shortly after WWII in Los Angeles by her husband, Roman. Roman Straus was a famous composer/conducter, an imigre from Germany whose life was saved by his now housekeeper (Hanna Schygulla), who has a young son.
Roman and Margaret Straus are played in black and white flashback by Branagh and Thompson. And while Roman was executed for stabbing his wife to death with a pair of scissors, he maintained his innocence. The motive was said to be jealousy, driven by the obvious love a reporter, Gray Baker (Andy Garcia), had for Margaret.
In trying to find the sources of Grace's distress, Mike finds some issues of his own. And he finally identifies the real murderer who is still alive and dangerous.
Yes, the story is complicated, but Branagh tells it in a clear, straight-forward manner which also requires the viewer to stay alert. He uses big film-making gestures, including great camera angles and lighting. And just as effectively, he uses some wit and humor as the story unfolds.
The cast is uniformly first-rate, including a best-friend part by Wayne Knight and a small but effective cameo by Robin Williams. One scene cleverly acted between Church and an aged, sick Gray Baker should put you off cigarette smoking.
I think this is one fine movie, and I hope it doesn't become forgotten.
Movie Review: Not Flawless, But Not All Bad
Summary: 4 Stars
While Dead Again's plot could be unauthentic and Branagh's direction a tad heavy-handed especially in the orchestrated build-up to the final countdown, the film was actually laden with highly viewable, if not beautiful, flashbacks in the form of well-shot black-and-white footages. Ominous foreshadowing techniques and double roles were skillfully sprinkled in refrain to denote the film's central message - past and present lives were meant to be inextricably intertwined. Plus, for seriously tuned-in viewers, innumerable hints would be flashed before your eyes lest one were ever inclined to feel cheated in the end. The cast was competent, from Branagh's portrayal of the doomed composer Strauss; Jacobi's psychotic MadSon character; Robin William's seedy shrink to Garcia's dandy reporter.
There were many strikingly unforgettable scenes: from the nostalgic masquerade ball to the atmospheric build-up (with good music editing to boot) to Margaret Strauss's murder, to the convincing romantic love scenes between Roman and his wife, to the two close encounters between Strauss/Church and reporter Gray Baker - the first time in the opening sequence shot in death row (note the film's revelation in the end on what actually happened in this eerie but captivating exchange was both refreshing and unexpected) and the other shocking sequence at the old folks' home. I had smoker friends who were utterly spooked and swore they would quit smoking if that were the last thing they would do upon stepping out of the cinema. I have re-watched the film no less than a dozen times but still find it strangely enchanting in spite of its flaws. While the film may have showcased a bunch of perhaps not-so-hot English thespians, if one were willing to relinquish one's biases, the ride could be a surprisingly pleasant one.
Movie Review: Classic film noir melodrama
Summary: 4 Stars
Buy into the high theatricality of Branagh's film noir melodrama and you'll have a ball with this picture. Scott Frank's deliciously devious screenplay about reincarnation, murder and love relies on twists, turns and sudden revelations which he unwinds with the skill of master storyteller (so much so that you probably won't even notice his blatant cheats which allow reincarnated souls to narrate events they never witnessed). His script fell into just the right hands with Branagh. An actor-director not generally known for restraint when it comes to the bold theatrical gesture, Branagh plays the material at full volume, taking it to the brink of hilarity - or well beyond, depending on your tastes. In particular, the slow-mo finale with its black-and-white dissolves and frenzied operatic overture will either have chills running down your spine, or hysterical laughter bursting from your lungs. Either way, it's an experience. The performances are all solid, but Derek Jacobi steals the show as antique merchant and hypnotist Franklyn Madson, deftly shifting between campy charity and predatory menace. Wrap it all up with a moody, classic-Hollywood shooting style (with plenty of nods to Hitchcock) and Patrick Doyle's cheeky operatic score, and you have all the ingredients of a minor classic. The DVD commentaries are enjoyable, too - Scott Frank and producer Lindsay Doran make an hilarious double act. It's especially interesting to hear that the final cut is less unintentionally funny than some earlier versions - the original climax apparently had Jacobi slipping to his death on a slice of pizza. I almost wish we'd seen that. Almost.