Slow pace of 'Treatment' will drive you nuts
•In Oren Rudavsky's sincere and restrained drama "The Treatment," Jake Singer (Chris Eigeman) is in the throes of a hot sexual encounter when his abusive Argentine shrink magically appears to him to offer advice. This comic device might work well in live theater, or even on the written page of a book. Here, the shrink's arrival -- which takes place only in Jake's head -- comes off as an easy, obvious way for Jake to disclose his feelings, if only to an imaginary entity.
British actor Ian Holm plays Jake's shrink, a Freudian quack who says stuff like "My love isn't a shield. My love is a sword!" and constantly pushes Jake's buttons. Jake, a private school teacher with daddy issues and bad luck with women, has been in a funk since the death of his mother. Then he meets a newly widowed Allegra (Famke Janssen), a vulnerable woman in the middle of an adoption process. The two connect, but is she real, or does she have an agenda
Running only 86 minutes, "The Treatment" (based on Daniel Menaker's novel) feels like a much-longer session with Jake, mainly because of the film's measured pace and its redundant information. It opens today at the Century Centre Cinema in Chicago. Not rated, but for mature audiences (language, sexual situations). 86 minutes. .. ¨
•I have questions about "The Bourne Ultimatum," Paul Greengrass' hit action movie beloved by critics and owner of the highest-grossing August opening weekend ever.
How does Matt Damon's wanted rogue CIA assassin, the amnesiac Jason Bourne, jump between London, New York, Madrid and Rome without anyone ever spotting him Does he pay cash for plane tickets so his credit card won't alert the CIA
Can a man really walk into CIA headquarters in New York and go straight into the boss's office without being stopped or even seen How many car collisions can one man survive without suffering so much as a scratch Wouldn't we have appreciated the excellent stunt scenes more if Greengrass had slowed them down to above-subliminal speed
Finally, wouldn't the ending have been deliciously ambivalent had it dropped that blunt, final shot of Damon The one that suggests he might be closer to Jason Voorhees than Jason Bourne
Just wondering.