The beginning of this film has Watts' character suffering the sudden loss (in a car crash) of her husband, which seemingly sent his 15 years old son (her stepson) into catatonia. She then cares for him (despite the fact it was clearly established that he was aggressively violent toward her, and his father, and the three of them never got along with each other).
Then, a small boy Watts is counselling disappears from her house, in the freezing cold winter in Maine. She then seems to be going mad, both searching for the boy, and blaming herself for her stepson's accident, which it turns out, was all an act by him to get attention from her, despite the fact that again, they didn't get along to begin with, so why does he suddenly care if she pays attention to him?
Far too complicated of a setup, especially for a film which cannot decide where it wants to go, this then degenerates into a really lame combination of this year's The Boy (which was quite derivative of several other films), Halloween (during the hiding-in-the-closet climax), and The Shining, with Oliver Platt's character obviously standing in for Scatman Crothers' Dick Hallorann.
Seriously, anyone who cannot figure what his fate will be is a moron.
There is so little to say about this one because there is so little substance to anything here. None of its under developed plot threads make any sense, or go anywhere. Seeing Naomi Watts just kept reminding me of my second favourite movie, Mulholland Drive, and seeing Oliver Platt just kept reminding me of Lake Placid, and made me want to watch both of those gain. They're both vastly superior movies than this.
Then, a small boy Watts is counselling disappears from her house, in the freezing cold winter in Maine. She then seems to be going mad, both searching for the boy, and blaming herself for her stepson's accident, which it turns out, was all an act by him to get attention from her, despite the fact that again, they didn't get along to begin with, so why does he suddenly care if she pays attention to him?
Far too complicated of a setup, especially for a film which cannot decide where it wants to go, this then degenerates into a really lame combination of this year's The Boy (which was quite derivative of several other films), Halloween (during the hiding-in-the-closet climax), and The Shining, with Oliver Platt's character obviously standing in for Scatman Crothers' Dick Hallorann.
Seriously, anyone who cannot figure what his fate will be is a moron.
There is so little to say about this one because there is so little substance to anything here. None of its under developed plot threads make any sense, or go anywhere. Seeing Naomi Watts just kept reminding me of my second favourite movie, Mulholland Drive, and seeing Oliver Platt just kept reminding me of Lake Placid, and made me want to watch both of those gain. They're both vastly superior movies than this.