Two Thrillers from Buena Vista
Cypher (July 26/05)
That Cypher is only being released now, two years after it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, doesn't come as much of a surprise, given its confounding storyline (there's no doubt the folks at Miramax were baffled at how to market the film). To label Cypher as inaccessible isn't much of a stretch, and it seems clear that viewers looking for a mindlessly engaging thriller are going to be sorely disappointed (and extremely confused). The film's storyline, revolving around nondescript businessman Morgan Sullivan (played by Jeremy Northam) and his efforts to survive as a corporate spy, is almost impossible to follow for at least half an hour, but director Vincenzo Natali keeps things interesting by employing a distinct, visually arrested sense of style. Along with cinematographer Derek Rogers, Natali uses a variety of off-kilter camera tricks to mirror Sullivan's increasingly paranoid frame of mind - something that's cemented by Michael Andrews' odd yet effective score. But the film never quite takes off, primarily because Brian King's screenplay - although intriguing - is so complicated that the viewer is constantly trying to catch up (as a result, it becomes more and more difficult to get into the movie as it progresses).
out of
Momentum (July 26/05)
One can't help but wonder if Momentum was originally conceived as the pilot episode for a new television show, as the film plays out like the first installment in an epic science-fiction series. Grayson McCouch stars as Zachary Shefford, a college professor with telekinetic abilities who encounters a mysterious ex-FBI agent named Raymond Addison (Louis Gossett Jr.) Addison informs Shefford that there are other folks out there with his abilities, although some use their power to easily and efficiently commit crimes. Adrian Geiger (Michael Massee) is the leader of one such faction, and Addison wants to send Shefford in undercover to infiltrate the group. Also thrown into the mix are a pair of actual FBI agents (played by Teri Hatcher and Carmen Argenziano) who are investigating the unusual circumstances surrounding a recent armored-car robbery. Although the film is surprisingly well directed by James Seale, Momentum never quite comes off as anything more than a typically moronic straight-to-video genre flick. The screenplay, by Deverin Karol, emphasizes cliched, shopworn dialogue and silly one-liners that seem as though they'd be more at home in an '80s actioner. The acting is somewhat better than one might expect, though, with Massee and Gossett Jr. delivering compelling, effective performances (Hatcher, on the other hand, isn't even remotely convincingly as a grizzled cop). But the bottom line is that aside from the out-there plot elements, virtually everything about Momentum is utterly routine.
