|
|
| .. |
|
THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Colm Feore, Jennifer
Carpenter
Director: Scott Derrickson
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreem 2.40:1
Studio: Sony
Features: See Review
Length: 119 Minutes
Release Date: December 20, 2005
"Who
are you, demon? TELL ME YOUR
NAME!"
"I
AM THE ONE WHO DWELLS WITHIN!!"
In
The Exorcism of Emily Rose, we find the ultimate combination:
it's an unsettling horror film and a tense courtroom drama in one. Then
consider it's based on a true story and an actual court case, and you have a
supreme achievement. This is a
movie that will frighten, engross, and move you all at the same time. It will have you thinking about it long afterwards.
In fact, it may seriously challenge what you think you know.
How many movies can say all of those things?
The
court case is a trial for negligent homicide, and the defendant is Father
Richard Moore (Wilkinson). The
charge: causing the death of young
Emily Rose (Carpenter) via a ritual Catholic exorcism.
Doctors believed she suffered a rare mental disorder; psychosis triggered
by epilepsy. Emily, her family and
Father Moore came to believe hers was a genuine case of demonic possession.
The doctors prescribed her medicine for her condition.
Father Moore advised her to stop taking it.
His
archdiocese arranges for a defense attorney, Erin Bruner (Linney).
They want the Father to agree to an easy plea deal to a charge of
reckless endangerment. The priest refuses. He
tells Ms. Bruner he's not afraid of losing his reputation or his
freedom...Emily's story MUST be told.
The
agnostic Bruner finds herself having to defend a client who believes in many
things she does not, and against one of the state's premiere prosecutors
(Scott), a man who DOES believe, but puts his faith aside in the call of his
duty. He brings medical experts to
the stand to explain away Emily's strange visions and physical manifestations.
Soon it becomes clear that Bruner has one shot and one shot alone:
argue that the demonic possession was real.
Had
this been a work of fiction, it would have been an entirely captivating and
unforgettable story, but the fact that Emily Rose, Father Moore and the court
case were all real makes it a movie that grips you from the start and never
releases you. Director Scott
Derrickson has delivered a motion picture that dares to tread into some tricky
waters of all kinds: legal,
psychological, and spiritual, and manages to consider all points of view before
coming to what I believe is the ultimate personal conclusion about the matter.
The
film plays out largely in present day, with flashbacks incorporated to
illustrate memories and testimony. It's
a technique we've seen before, but to my knowledge, never to spin a tale of
terror, or one that opens up the Pandora's Box of existential questions that
many will find they can't close again once the credits roll.
In
other words, it's not a horror film per se, nor is it a John Grisham-styled
legal thriller. It doesn't follow
genres, but rather, uses them as a means of conveying what can only be described
as the ultimate philosophical arguments: do good and evil really exist?
Is there more to our lives than what we perceive with our senses?
And was Emily Rose in fact a tragically sick young girl whose visions
were merely Bergman-esque treatises on the failure of the concept of God...or
was her ordeal a universal wake-up call asking us to open our eyes to
possibilities we've never considered?
Father
Moore has his opinion of the subject...and frankly, so do I.
You probably do, as well. People
from all over the world have responded to the tale of Emily Rose, and come from
everywhere to visit her grave.
Deciding
the validity of weighty spiritual matters is certainly too much to ask from a
simple film. But the great movies
can certainly stimulate us in a way that makes us consider what we may never
have considered before. The
Exorcism of Emily Rose IS a great movie.
Video
****
This
anamorphic transfer from Sony is flawless from top to bottom, beginning to end.
There are light scenes and dark scenes galore, and each one renders with
complete clarity and crispness, and a terrific level of detail.
I noticed no undue grain or compression to spoil the effect.
Audio
****
As
I always say, sound is crucial in horror, even if it's a different kind of
horror. This atmospheric and
frequently enveloping 5.1 track is sublime and superb, offering plenty of
dynamic punch in the right places and creating quiet patches of suspense in
others. Dialogue is well rendered
throughout, and the frequent eerie uses of the rear channel will aid in keeping
you engrossed in the story.
Features
***
The
extras begin with a fine commentary track from director Scott Derrickson.
After that, there is a deleted scene, featurettes on the story genesis,
casting and visual effects, and some previews for other Sony titles.
Summary:
Review
