Spinning Man

source: Spinning Man

"Spinning Man" is a neo-noir film that evolves into a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game between a philosopher professor, Evan Birch (Guy Pearce), and a seasoned detective, Robert Malloy (Pierce Brosnan). The professor is a specialist in the philosophy of language, and one of the intriguing parts of the film is the philosophical banter between the professor and the detective, who has a law degree and is clearly a skilled debater, as well as a savvy investigator. According to the behind-the-scenes segment of the DVD, the film was based on a real event that inspired George Harrar 's book that was subsequently adapted into a screenplay. Brosnan identified "an eliptical sensibility" to the script. That is an apt way of describing the sense of how the film starts with a mundane incident by a lake and a missing person, then builds a story in a non-linear fashion as the philosophical issues start to supersede the crime drama. A point made in the bonus track by the screenwriter was how the character of the professor was "self-destructive." That observation is revealing about the interpretation of the professor by actor Guy Pierce, who played the role with great confidence and no apparent intimidation felt from the aggressive the police detective. It was as if the actor was playing the opposite of what the character is really like, almost like a psychological defense mechanism. Indeed, there were effective details in the film that offered psychological insights into the characters. The professor and his life were forced to leave Evanston following his inappropriate conduct with a young woman. Yet the professor has still kept a memento of a book a matches with the young woman's handwriting on the booklet, setting up a rendezvous. In the same vein, the detective relates to the professor how members of Alcoholics Anonymous carry a coin with them as a reminder not to take a drink. In two crucial moments of the film, the detective is scene handling such a coin. Pearce described the film as "an explanation of human behavior and the fragility of one's identity." The film was successful in integrating philosophical discourse with a standard film thriller. One of the provocative ideas explored in the interaction between the professor and the detective was the thin line between "truth" and the individual's subjective "interpretation of truth." By the end of the film, the detective has taken the professor to school with special insights into his own flawed character. The main narrative posits the question of what happened to the young woman in the incident at Hillside Lake. But the deeper focus is on a provocative human reality of memory, self-identity, and, the word that does not seem to be in the professor's vocabulary: denial.

This movie -as most of movies based on books or novels- tends to have a lot of philosophy between its layers, and the main questions this movie emphasised on are, What is the truth ? Is it subjective or Objective ? Is it what really happened ? or Is it our interpretation of what happened ? The good thing is that you will be given a way to follow after watching this movie regarding the previous questions, but that philosophical point of view didn't ruin the watching experience but it enhanced it by adding to the thrill and suspense that will not end till the credits. The movie has a great team such as "Pierce Bronson" which i believe he did his lowest roles in the movie but that doesn't mean he wasn't good, in addition to "Guy Pearce" who played his role really well, and "Odeya Rush" the younger version of "Mila Kunis" has beautiful eyes and smile and i would like to see her more on the screen. But i felt "Minnie Driver" didn't add a soul to the role by her expression-less face. At the end, it's a good psychological drama movie that you can enjoy watching at home not at the theaters of course, you can catch some nice quotes out of it, and it will keep you focused till the end so no space to feel bored here.

I give "Spinning Man" two stars.. one each for the eye candy that is Odeya Rush and Alexandra Shipp, otherwise there is nothing else to see in this film. It probably could have played out better on the stage or even the radio - or basically just left it as a book. The sides must have been 800-pages long because all that happens is excessive yapping, and I bet the film's budget was mostly spent on throat lozenges for Guy Pearce to keep him from going hoarse during every scene. There's also subplots that do nothing to further the story (i.e. the mousetraps; Halloween scene with the daughter and police, etc) and just end up being a distraction (and an opportunity for more yapping). I don't mind psychological thrillers at all, and don't need body counts to be entertained, but this one is just too much talk with very little thrill.