Felicia's Journey: Amazon.ca: Bob Hoskins, Arsin�e Khanjian, Atom Egoyan: DVD

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Like Hitchcock, Atom Egoyan envisions family life as a potential hotbed of literal or figurative violence and incest. In Felicia's Journey, Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's shattering novel, one dreads to imagine what TV-cook mom (Arsinée Khanjian) did to so damage her pudgy son that grown- up Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) still prepares meals in perfect unison with faded videotapes of her show--and, as we eventually discover, often takes more sinister trips down Memory Lane. Distant kin to Psycho's Tony Perkins, Hoskins's troll is so obsessive, so traumatized, his every short-armed, fat-handed gesture and sing-song utterance is precisely calculated to keep reality safely buried.

Egoyan's movies often seem located underwater, in some surreal dreamscape where one's breath is perpetually suspended while a slow horror seeps ever deeper under the skin. Helpless, transfixed, one watches as his characters drive inexorably toward mined intersections where lives and souls may be lost or redeemed. When Hilditch's path crosses, diverges from, and finally coincides with that of young, pregnant Felicia (Elaine Cassidy)--an Irish innocent searching for her errant boyfriend--it leads to terrible epiphany for these fellow travelers. Trouble is, creepy Hilditch and too-naive Felicia come up a bit short in the psychological complexity department, so by film's end, revelatory payoffs are mostly penny ante. Felica's Journey tours familiar Egoyan territory--an industrialized wasteland full of hungry hearts--but this latest fairy tale (think perverse variations on Hansel and Gretel) isn't in the same league with such "family values" masterpieces as Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. --Kathleen Murphy

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.5 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Makes my jaw drop, May 15 2004

By

IRA Ross (LYNDHURST, NJ United States 07071) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Felicia's Journey (VHS Tape)

I have never seen a more sympathetic portrayal of a serial killer. As played by Bob Hoskins, Mr. Hildich is a fatherly, sweet, gentle, and lonely man who is also conflicted, disturbed, and reluctantly evil. He also suffers from a lingering mother complex which is apparently responsible for his dirty, horrible little secrets. With a history of rescuing poor "lost girls" who are impregnated, then abandoned by their boy friends, he cannot help but try to keep them near him forever. Hildich's latest rescuee is Felicia, a young Irish girl with a problem similar to "the others."

Hoskins plays Hildich with a quiet intensity that is both creepy, scary, but never less than sympathetic. I often felt that he needed rescuing as much as Felicia. The scenes where Hildich, who is ironically a catering manager, watches old videos of his mother, a famous French television chef, preparing one of her famous recipes while he follows along are by turns funny and nauseating. Norman Bates would probably identify with Hildich. Thrown into the mix is a Bible carrying rescue worker and missionary who promises peace in the great hereafter to those who would only just believe. In the end her naive message save no one, not even the hapless Hilich.

There is a haunting and beautiful melody played throughout the film called "The Faith In The Heart Of A Child" which gives the simple message that if only children were more loved and respected for themselves there would be no need to rescue them when they become lonely, screwed up and loveless adults.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Warning: Will put you to sleep., Jun 3 2002

By

Benjamin J. Hooton-bartlett "nubs mckenzie" (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: NEW Felicia's Journey (DVD) (DVD)

Okay, now I'm one who loves a good story. Even if the storytelling may be a bit slow, it's all about the message the film is trying to convey to its audience. But this movie? This movie is an UNBELIEVABLE borefest. I kept waiting and waiting for this movie to pick up from its sedated state and it never did. All that happened was me falling asleep. About an hour and 20 minutes into the movie I found myself wanting to stop it, but a part of me made me finish watching. I told myself "something is bound to happen, the ending will be shocking!" But then once I realized that would never happen, I kept it running because I figured "I've gone through so much, I have to finish this, or else it will all be for nothing." Nothing about this is shocking. Even if should be remotely shocking whatsoever, that aspect of it gets lost in the fact that it is so BORING. Slow movies are great, as long as they have something entertaining in them, or build up to something. This movie had nothing to offer and one of the most dull climaxes I've ever seen. I gave it a chance, and Felicia's Journey feels more like a Wisconsin Death Trip. Avoid, unless you are an insomniac and want to go to sleep.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing thriller is lesser Egoyan, April 23 2002

By

Matthew Horner (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: NEW Felicia's Journey (DVD) (DVD)

"Felicia's Journey" is an intriguing psychological thriller about a pregnant young Irish girl who goes to England looking for the father of her baby and finds instead a psychotic, middle-aged man disguised as savior. The brilliant Canadian director, Atom Egoyan, literally isn't quite at home with the material or the location [it was shot in Great Britain]. Consequently, the movie is not quite as good as my two favorites of his, "The Sweet Hereafter" and "Exotica", though it shares that same fascinating, hypnotic quality I so much admire.

As Joe, a man whose facade conceals some dreadful secrets, Bob Hoskins is awesome. He seems so innocent and well-meaning until you notice how quickly the look in his eyes can go from benign to malignant. Elaine Cassidy is just about perfect as Felicia, the young girl. She gives her dignity and purpose, portraying her as a good girl who doesn't have a clue as to how to deal with her problems. She lets Joe lure her in, not because she is stupid, but because she is innocent and unworldly.

This is not a commercial movie. One of the main reasons is that Joe is not an over-the-top villain. He is all too similar to lots of people we see every day. He does appear to be a bit furtive and secretive at times, but not so much so that anyone would suspect his dreadful other side. He is not over there in some special place we pretend madmen live in. He's just the nice man who lives next door. We can't distance ourselves from him easily, and that's an uncomfortable feeling. We are much more at home with the likes of Hannibal Lecter, who safely exists only in a book or a movie.

Despite its faults, "Felicia's Journey is much better than the average thriller, in particular because its images stick with you long after you've seen it.

Since I have not read the novel the movie is based on, I can't comment on how the two compare.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars worlds better than The Sweet Hereafter
I've got no quarrel with people who don't attach to downbeat films with characters they can't relate to. They won't like this film. Read more

Published on Mar 20 2002 by ethan100

5.0 out of 5 stars Egoyan in his top form...
The Sweet Hereafter is Egoyan's best movie so far. There's no doubt about it. However it's unfair for some people trying to compare Felicia's Journey with the Sweet Hereafter as... Read more