Spill It

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Director Vadim Perelman "wants everyone to know the ending of his film The Life Before Her Eyes before they see it," writes Arizona Star critic Phil Villarreal. "He says you'll understand and appreciate the movie better if you're aware of the late-film twist.

"The story follows the plight of a woman in her 30s, played by Uma Thurman, [who's been] traumatized by a high school shooting she survived. In the flashback scenes her character is played by Evan Rachel Wood, who, along with her friend, is confronted by the killer in the school bathroom.

"Perelman says most of the film takes place in the mind of the girl as she lies dying in the bathroom." Yeah, but which girl? The friend or Wood's character? Villarreal doesn't make this clear (not in this excerpt, at least) and I'm not going to be the one to say.

"What’s strange about this film is unless they know the twist, I don’t think they enjoy the movie," Perelman tells Villarreal.

"The reviews that are trickling in say the metaphors are too heavy-handed. But by the time you know what the twist is, you’re kind of past it. Every single one of the visual metaphors and echoes only exist to support the main concept that she imagines her future life in front of her eyes. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s better to know and kind of follow along. I can’t expect people to see it twice.”

comment #1

Sean says ...

Huh.

comment #2

Yves says ...

I thought twists jumped the shark. Can't pinpoint when. They're as gimmicky as non-linear storytelling.

comment #3

PhilVillarreal says ...

Perelman said most of the film takes place in the mind of the Wood character.

comment #4

MiraJeffAICN says ...

i have zero interest in seeing this. as i understood it, amurri gets killed and evan survives, only to be burdened with survivor's guilt. i'm guessing the twist is evan gets killed instead, or rather, both the girls die. anyone seen it wanna email me?

comment #5

lesterg says ...

He's a mediocre director, but Vadim Perelman can beat up an underage girl like no one's business.

comment #6

mizerock says ...

So I guess in the "Director's Cut", this information will be given clearly to the viewer early on?

comment #7

Jeff says ...

SPOILER.......

I saw this last week and thought it was an interesting idea, that ended up being bland and not executed well. What I don't understand is, Pearlman says the Uma sequence takes place as the Wood character is already dying....I thought that when the killer had the gun aimed at both of them and gave Wood the choice of which one got killed she was envisioning the crappy life she would have if she lived and decided to just die now. Her friend was the one who had ambitions and would have led the more pleasant life. I guess there's different ways to interpret it.

comment #8

alynch says ...

"i have zero interest in seeing this. as i understood it, amurri gets killed and evan survives, only to be burdened with survivor's guilt. i'm guessing the twist is evan gets killed instead, or rather, both the girls die. anyone seen it wanna email me?"

A professional film critic ladies and gentleman!

comment #9

Eric says ...

If Perlman think that the twist of his film works better if you're aware of it, then he shouldn't have made it a twist. The way it plays now, finding out that the girl has been dead the whole time--turning most of the movie, in "Usual Suspects" style, false--makes you feel cheated. It's like a poor man's "Sixth Sense," building up a slightly interesting character study and then ruining it by turning the whole thing into a shoddy ghost story.

comment #10

George Prager says ...

SPOILER ALERT:

Wood climbs through a bathroom window and jumps to a story below. Her friend screams "BIRDY!!!!!!" Wood turns around and says "What?" Fade out. "La Bamba" begins to play.

comment #11

MiraJeffAICN says ...

ALynch, that's right and don't you forget it. Film critics don't see every single movie that comes out. They give shitty horror movies and the like to reviewers who are lower than them on the totem pole. This movie looked like shit. I've heard it is shit. I couldn't make any of the screenings and even if I could've, I wouldn't necessarily have gone. I am mildly curious but I'd rather just know the twist to save me the trip. Same for 88 Minutes, which I'm glad I did not (and will not) see either. But congrats on being able to cut and paste. You could have a real future in that.

comment #12

cjKennedy says ...

Over emphasizing the twist is a mistake, this isn't an M. Night picture...but spilling it ahead of time feels like a mistake too. I went in not knowing there was going to be a twist and I didn't feel cheated or robbed. It actually helped explain the artificial quality the film had that was bugging me so much.

But then, I didn't really like the movie all that much.

comment #13

lipranzer says ...

I did see this. I wouldn't say it was "shit": when Perelman isn't trying to badly imitate Nicolas Roeg, and slows down enough to concentrate on the friendship between Wood and Ammuri (doing a convincing 180-degree turn from her bad girl character in SAVED), it's pretty good. Unfortunately, all of Perelman's weird transition cuts, his overuse of shots of flower imagery, birds flying, slow motion, and whatnot, and Uma Thurman looking out of place in yet another porcelain doll role (to be fair, in the novel, her part was much larger and more nuanced) sunk the film for me. Oh, and my friend's part wasn't much.

comment #14

Discman says ...

Can anyone explain why the imagined storyline amounts to anything whatsoever? I saw the film and found Uma's storyline, with its survivor's guilt and wrestling with issues about the consequences of moral choices, worth pondering -- until I discovered that the filmmakers don't consider any of that "real." It DOES feel like an M. Night trick, but M. Night's movies have, for the most part, been entertaining and even thoughtful, even in reflection. This movie works hard to say something about the soul and how the consequences of moral choices follow even a teenager well into later life, then pulls the rug out by suggesting all of it was merely imagined in a moment, rather than actually lived out.

comment #15

berg says ...

so this is an An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge for the new millennium, I am surprised Charles Gibson didn't mention it while reminding everyone to say a prayer for victims of high school massacres

comment #16

breadlymoore says ...

It's actually a much more interesting character piece without the twist. The ending just turns the film into a gimmick.

I hate to see people shitting on Uma for this one. If anyone needs to attend acting classes, it's Evan Rachel Wood. She needs to vary up her performances.

comment #17

Glenn Kenny says ...

Yeah, Berg, you nailed it with the "Owl Creek Bridge" citing. When I reviewed from Toronto I said "Sophie's Choice" meets "Owl Creek Bridge" meets Columbine, which is pretty much as inside a spoiler as there could be. Only the movie's no good, its excellent performances aside.

comment #18

berg says ...

the cinematography is awesome in this film Glenn, whether it's a shot of flowers In Bloom or a catepillar crawling on a leaf. Do people want to see a film that begs the question Where do you stand on death as an experience? Probably not. But the high fill lights in shot after shot tell me that they they were trying to accomplish something ... and what's the deal with Brett Cullen, does his character have a thing for women with bracelets?

comment #19

lawnorder says ...

SPOILER regarding another film (Jacob's Ladder)...

I can't believe someone hasn't mentioned JACOB'S LADDER at this point. That is the exact same plot as Adrian Lyne's underrated film.

comment #20

berg says ...

yes not to forget jacob's ladder, the debut of Macauley after rocket gilbralter and uncle buck the anti parenthood

comment #21

silver says ...

A little bit of non-linear storytelling goes a long way. About the 5th (or maybe 6th? 7th?) time that we see the exact same footage of the gunman bursting in threatening the girls (with the scene progressing just a bit further each time) was enough.

However I saw it knowing zilch about the big twist (nor actually even knowing that there was to be an upcoming big twist at the end).
It completely fooled me, and I enjoyed that much (and there were quite a few hints along the way)- but not enough the offset the non-linear story that jumps around in time waaaay too much.

comment #22

D.Z. says ...

You know, sitting through three trailers in a row for Lakeview Terrace, Tropic Thunder, and Meet Dave makes me somewhat understand how "Good Germans" felt sitting through anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda films. I get it, "liberal media". You'd prefer Hillary or McCain to win.

comment #23

silver says ...

I wanted to add:
I saw the director do a post-screening Q&A. And someone asked him what the odd behavior of the young daughter of the Uma Thurman character represented?
I won't give it away here- but the answer was unsettling and a bit creepy. For folks who go see it, just something to watch for.

After pondering a bit, I think Vadim Perelman might be right about enjoying the film more knowing the plot twist, because one could appreciate all the hints and clues being dropped along the way.
Sort of like re-reading a good well-done mystery novel to appreciate the author's misdirection techniques to fool the reader, and to see the early clues and hints one could have caught.

comment #24

Jay T. says ...

If you want to say something with a film or have your viewers know something, then DO THAT IN THE FILM. Ridiculous...

comment #25

lipranzer says ...

"I hate to see people shitting on Uma for this one. If anyone needs to attend acting classes, it's Evan Rachel Wood. She needs to vary up her performances."

Just to clarify, I didn't mean to be imprecise, but I don't blame Uma, I blame the role. She's got nothing to work with here, either with her character or with her storyline. She gets a chance to bring something to the role only in her first couple of scenes with the actress playing her daughter.

And yes, Wood has played a lot of rebellious teens as of late, but while she's not as good here as she was in, say, THIRTEEN, PRETTY PERSUASION, or on "Once & Again," I do think she does distinctive work here. Part of that is working with Amurri - they effectively convey friendship with each other.

comment #26

Chris Willman says ...

Glenn Kenny says: ""Sophie's Choice" meets "Owl Creek Bridge" meets Columbine"

...meets "The Last Temptation of Christ," too?

comment #27

Terry McCarty says ...

breadlymoore wrote:
I hate to see people shitting on Uma for this one. If anyone needs to attend acting classes, it's Evan Rachel Wood. She needs to vary up her performances.

I liked her in DOWN IN THE VALLEY, but thought her limitations as an actress really showed in KING OF CALIFORNIA--full disclosure: the hour I watched before I ejected it from my DVD player.

comment #28

BurmaShave says ...

D.Z., what the hell was that?

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