THE INVISIBLE (2007) *** Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva, Marcia Gay Harden, Chris Marquette, Alex O'Loughlin, Callum Keith Rennie, Michelle Harrison, Ryan Kennedy, Andrew Francis, Mark Houghton, Alex Ferris. (Dir: David S. Goyer)
"The Sixth Sense" for the MySpace generation.
Nick Powell (Chatwin) is a smart, well-liked high school senior on the cusp o f graduation but all is not as well as expected for his seemingly charmed life. His beloved father's death years ago has cast a pall upon his relationship with hi smother, Diane (Harden), a cold, business oriented woman who cannot see her son's talents as a budding writer to the point of them arguing about his going to England for a fellowship to pursue his dream of becoming a real writer.
To make matters worse Nick's best friend Pete (Marquette) is being bullied by the school's delinquent-at-large Annie Newton (Levieva) and her pair of goons for payments for a black-market cell phone that leads to Nick interfering and getting on Annie's bad side.
Annie 's nasty demeanor is belied by her turbulent domestic life, her father is a washed out cop now-rent-a-cop who has shacked up with a worthless skank after the death of her beloved mother and tries to look out for her younger brother Victor. But her criminal mind is put to its limits with her ex-con lover Marcus (O'Loughlin), who has a stash of hot items in his garage. One night on a routine car theft Annie decides to up the ante by a smash-and- grab at a ritzy jewelry shop. When she pisses off Marcus the next day he drops a dime on her causing her arrest (and humiliation) at school. Thinking it was Nick and Pete cooking up revenge she decides to settle the score by beating Nick up after his imbibing at a party. Accidentally knocking Nick cold in the backwoods Annie and her gang leave him for dead in a drainage valve.
The next morning Nick returns to school only to discover no one seems to acknowledge his presence and realizes he must be dead. Confirming his worst fears he backtracks to his home where his anguished mother and the police are trying to find him.
Nick is virtually 'invisible' to all around him but soon discovers to his horror that he is NOT dead but in a limbo state and has precious few hours left if he wants to remain alive by trying to communicate with everyone, and shaming Annie into confessing to the crime.
Based on a Swedish novel by Mats Wahl (and apparently a film as well; I'm not familiar with either), the smart and crafty screenplay by Mick Davis and Christine Roum wisely sets the metaphor for teenage life as being transparent and paralleling the in-between-worlds Nick and the basically lost-in-the-social-cracks Annie, both not being seen literally and metaphorically for who they really are. Buoyed by exceptional performances by lead Chatwin (best known as Tom Cruise's rebellious son in WAR OF THE WORLDS) and newcomer Levieva (who resembles Erika Christensen), both making their characters well-rounded teenagers and not run-of-the-mill stereotypes.
Directed by veteran screenwriter Goyer (BATMAN BEGINS) , the film mixes the drama and tension perfectly with time-ticking for Nick to get back to life and Annie to recognize for once her potential for doing something meaningful. The universal theme of teens' rights- of-passage rings true even if it is set in a supernatural setting to a certain extent; life is not meaningless no matter what.
"The Sixth Sense" for the MySpace generation.
Nick Powell (Chatwin) is a smart, well-liked high school senior on the cusp o f graduation but all is not as well as expected for his seemingly charmed life. His beloved father's death years ago has cast a pall upon his relationship with hi smother, Diane (Harden), a cold, business oriented woman who cannot see her son's talents as a budding writer to the point of them arguing about his going to England for a fellowship to pursue his dream of becoming a real writer.
To make matters worse Nick's best friend Pete (Marquette) is being bullied by the school's delinquent-at-large Annie Newton (Levieva) and her pair of goons for payments for a black-market cell phone that leads to Nick interfering and getting on Annie's bad side.
Annie 's nasty demeanor is belied by her turbulent domestic life, her father is a washed out cop now-rent-a-cop who has shacked up with a worthless skank after the death of her beloved mother and tries to look out for her younger brother Victor. But her criminal mind is put to its limits with her ex-con lover Marcus (O'Loughlin), who has a stash of hot items in his garage. One night on a routine car theft Annie decides to up the ante by a smash-and- grab at a ritzy jewelry shop. When she pisses off Marcus the next day he drops a dime on her causing her arrest (and humiliation) at school. Thinking it was Nick and Pete cooking up revenge she decides to settle the score by beating Nick up after his imbibing at a party. Accidentally knocking Nick cold in the backwoods Annie and her gang leave him for dead in a drainage valve.
The next morning Nick returns to school only to discover no one seems to acknowledge his presence and realizes he must be dead. Confirming his worst fears he backtracks to his home where his anguished mother and the police are trying to find him.
Nick is virtually 'invisible' to all around him but soon discovers to his horror that he is NOT dead but in a limbo state and has precious few hours left if he wants to remain alive by trying to communicate with everyone, and shaming Annie into confessing to the crime.
Based on a Swedish novel by Mats Wahl (and apparently a film as well; I'm not familiar with either), the smart and crafty screenplay by Mick Davis and Christine Roum wisely sets the metaphor for teenage life as being transparent and paralleling the in-between-worlds Nick and the basically lost-in-the-social-cracks Annie, both not being seen literally and metaphorically for who they really are. Buoyed by exceptional performances by lead Chatwin (best known as Tom Cruise's rebellious son in WAR OF THE WORLDS) and newcomer Levieva (who resembles Erika Christensen), both making their characters well-rounded teenagers and not run-of-the-mill stereotypes.
Directed by veteran screenwriter Goyer (BATMAN BEGINS) , the film mixes the drama and tension perfectly with time-ticking for Nick to get back to life and Annie to recognize for once her potential for doing something meaningful. The universal theme of teens' rights- of-passage rings true even if it is set in a supernatural setting to a certain extent; life is not meaningless no matter what.