The Lazarus Project (2008)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John Glenn

Writers (WGA):

John Glenn (screenplay)
Evan Astrowsky (story)

Release Date:

24 October 2008 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Some realities have no escape

Plot:

A former criminal is drawn into a criminal endeavor and subsequently finds himself living an inexplicable new life working at a psychiatric facility.

Plot Keywords:

Lethal Injection | Second Chance | Oregon | Texas | Grim Reaper

Cast

Paul Walker	...	Ben Garvey
Piper Perabo	...	Lisa Garvey
Brooklynn Proulx	...	Katie Garvey
Bob Gunton	...	Father Ezra
Lambert Wilson	...	Avery
Linda Cardellini	...	Julie Ingram
Tony Curran	...	William Reeds
Malcolm Goodwin	...	Robbie
Ross McMillan	...	Dr. James
Aaron Hughes	...	Caleb
Sean Skene	...	Orderly
John Callander	...	The Lineman
Shawn Hatosy	...	Ricky Garvey
Alex Sol	...	Phelps
Peter Jordan	...	Male Tech

Also Known As:

The Heaven Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence, disturbing images and thematic material.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Be Good Productions

Quotes:

[first lines]
Katie Garvey: Daddy, what's the greatest thing you ever saw?
Ben Garvey: Greatest thing you ever saw. Umm. One time when I was a little boy, I was playing with my slingshot and I saw this Jaybird. I don't know why but I shot him.
Katie Garvey: You killed a birdie?
Ben Garvey: I didn't mean to. I don't even know why I shot at him, but I felt so bad, I started praying to God that he would come back. And all of a sudden the Jaybird woke up. He just flew away.
Katie Garvey: God saved him?
Ben Garvey: Yeah, I think so.

Slow story, weak twists, good acting

The base story was interesting: a criminal given a second chance at a decent life. Unfortunately the whole plot moves very slowly and it comes with quite a few things that do not seem very likely. After 35 minutes, I was still wondering where this was going. Paul Walker is performing as usual and I was surprised to see Lambert Wilson having such a small part in the movie. Overall I would say that the performance of the actors was what made the movie watchable till the end. Without those actors I would have stopped watching this movie. The director did a decent work, but unfortunately based on a weak plot, with unlikely twists and slow story. I would not recommend going to the theater to watch this movie, DVD release is quite enough.