Movie Review: The Invisible

Last Saturday I got a chance to sit down and watch "The Invisible."

A very nice played out movie that had its moments with enough paranormal to catch my interest.

The gist of the plot is that the 2 main characters Annie Newton, played by Margarita Levieva, and Nick Powell played by Justin Chatwin, get into a fight. Annie ends up killing Nick and hiding the body.

The next morning it takes Nick awhile to realize what has happened and gets to observe the actions of people around him who cannot see him. A bit of an eye opener. Due to the help of a bird, he realizes, he is not really dead, just near death.

So over the next couple of days he tries his best to communicate with whomever and finally realizes Annie can hear him. She eventually helps the police find the body and saves him.

The plot of the movie is fairly predictable, until the very end, that I won't give away. It could end one of 2 ways, and you are really hoping for one. But the plot has little to do with the actual story being told. The story is really about the lives of these 2 teenagers. Nick is in a very wealthy family and his father dies. His mother, played by Marcia Gay Harden, then smothers him in an attempt to hold onto him, using any means necessary including guilt. He is convinced she does not really love him and is only holding onto him as a way to hold onto her dead husband. She puts in an adequate performance, with one really good scene.

Annie on the other hand had her mother die. Her father, who was a cop, remarries and for reasons unknown, becomes a security guard. He expects the new wife to take care of the kids, but she really has no interest in Annie or her very young brother Victor. Annie cannot stand the new step-mom and just does enough to make sure Victor is taken care of and then selfishly leaves every night to meet up with here ex-con and active criminal boyfriend.

The Story then does a fantastic job on showing the similarities between the two and the underlining love-story that pops out between these two is very real even though they never said more than a dozen words between each other. The two begin to understand each other as Annie's cold as steel personae struggles with the guilt of showing the police where the body is. Everything comes to a head as Annie's boyfriend moves the body and Annie has a stand off forcing him to tell her where the body is.

This part of the movie is fantastic and well worth the price of renting the DVD. But there were many parts of the movie and the story that were left unanswered and confusing. The best friend Pete, played by Chris Marquette of Joan of Arcadia, did a half decent job of acting, but I've seen him do better.
Annie had two friends, that did most of her dirty work, roughing up people for her, etc.. There was no explanation of this trio relationship and seemed faked and contrived to have a bad girl be able to bully people. I can only think she must have been servicing both of them or paying them to get their loyalty. But it shows neither and leaves you wondering why they would hang around psycho chic.

And I felt the boyfriend party could have just as easily been played by one of the 2 bullies. Instead this makes a whole new twist, that didn't make a lot of since. He is out on parole, sleeping with an under age girl and stealing cars with her. He gets pissed and calls the cops on her??? This started the whole mess of Attacking Pete and then Nick. I think a boyfriend and best friend would have made a more convincing story line, than just 2 guys who beat up people for this girl.

Many of the actors besides the two main characters seemed drab and unconvincing. But this offset the 2 very fine performances by Justin, please get an new haircut, and Margarita. I can see her doing a lot more in the future.

She is a fairly new comer to the big screen coming off the TV series Vanished and with another half dozen TV appearances. I expect some big things from her in the future.

I gave The Invisible 3 stars out of 5.

Coming up next week. Comedy time with Knocked Up.

Until next time...