WHAT LIES BENEATH
A DreamWorks Pictures & 20th Century Fox release 

review by Joseph B. Mauceri

SYNOPSIS: Man has affair, ghost seeks revenge, lots of skeletons, lots of closets, and mixed with plenty of scary stuff. Seems like a perfect recipe, but the trailer already gives too much away. So I'll say no more. The big question, was it the daughter going of to college or the Ouija board that stirred things up?

REVIEW: Things that look good on paper don't necessarily pan out on screen. WHAT LIES BENEATH is well acted and exceptionally directed. However, the story is leaking out Red Herrings and homages all over the place. Zemeckis skillfully manages to keep the story "above water," pulling out all the stops to keep the audience squirming in their seats. WHAT LIES BENEATH has key moments where you literally see the references to "Rear Window," "Psycho," and "Spellbound." With films like "The Sixth Sense" and "Stir of Echoes" still fresh in our minds, WHAT LIES BENEATH also draws on visuals and plot elements from those films as wll. However, what all these films have in common is that they take their ques from great literature, every scary story from the Bronte sisters to Stephen King. WHAT LIES BENEATH creates small setups to encase the plot, and by the time Zemeckis has peeled back all the leaves on this "artsie- choke" there is almost nothing as a pay off, except for a weak boo! Beyond that point in the film, it dwells entirely too long as it brings the curtain down, with the final shot seeming to be more about style. Zemeckis' shot looks like something borrowed from Tim Burton.

Michelle Pfeiffer carries ninety-percent of the film on her shoulders. She is wonderful, and amazing to watch as the story puts her through an emotional wringer. She maybe be hapless, but she is far from helpless. The real burning mystery of the film is why Harrison Ford? As you watch him interact with Pfeiffer you can't help but feel that he could have phoned his performance in. There is no charisma to his transformation, and at times he comes off as a watered down Anthony Perkins.

The production values help to create an atmosphere of tension in suburbia. The filmmakers try to inject danger into this charming house. However, it is overly lit, often unable to dispel its bright and cheery feel. Look at last year's "The Haunting," because I think a lot of the problems with the lighting and set problems also happen in this film. The other element that is a big distraction is the score. It's fine when the visual elements create a homage, but they use movements in the score to calling attention to the film sequence they're duplicating. By doing this, they tip their hand and you almost know what will follow. All these problems prevent the audience from fully immersing -- or should I say submerging -- themselves into the drama.

WHAT LIES BENEATH is a mildly entertaining thriller that feels like a big budget, star driven episode of "Tales From the Crypt." Zemeckis is a great director in need of better material. He also needs to take some chances. In the end, WHAT LIES BENEATH is a funhouse thriller that should have been a scary movie.

OFFICIAL WEB SITE:
www.amazon.com/whatliesbeneath

BACK