Director: Joel Edgerton
Year Released: 2015
Rating: 2.5
Businessman Simon (Jason Bateman) and his wife (Rebecca Hall) move from Chicago to California to get a 'fresh start' in their lives (for reasons only alluded to - her pill addiction, for one), but Simon's former schoolmate Gordo (Edgerton) keeps popping up and leaving presents for them. Edgerton's first feature length effort isn't De Palma or Polanski or Hitch - nor should anyone expect it to be - but he does a decent job accumulating tension (even tossing in a few Boo! moments). I couldn't help but ask myself this: does actually drugging, tormenting and potentially raping (to the point of possibly impregnating) a man's wife - because of some silly teenage bullying - 'make up' for a 25-year-old transgression? Furthermore, is the audience supposed to believe the 'revenge' is going to change unrepentant Simon's future behavior in any way (he just never 'grew up')? It makes for some interesting post-viewing reflection (at least for me), but there's something sour and petty about it that's unshakeable.
