Customer Reviews

Felicia's Journey

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

"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.

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. Neither will the Silence of the Lambs Crowd--Felicia's Journey IS NOT a thriller--it's tied with The Daytrippers as the most mismarketed film of the past five years. It's a story about misdirected love and trust.

If you like movie moments, when there's something onscreen that's so moving or electrifying that you forget you're in a theater watching light move across a screen, well, this film has two of them--one with about 20 minutes to go, and one at the very end. Two three minute stretches of camerawork and writing that are as good as anything I've ever seen in the medium.

Watch this film. And then go read the book, or anything by William Trevor, who's as good as it gets in fiction.

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 they involve different genres, stories, protagonists and places. Every Egoyan's filmmaking is a masterpiece and Felicia's Journey is no exception. There's not any other director who can make a film which is scary as hell as Felicia's Journey while the audience can't even see a drop of blood within the 116-min runtime. It's also a luxury sitting through the film when you see the unique way Egoyan moves the camera. Mychael Danna's music is superb as usual though a little bit more experimental than in pervious works. FJ is another Egoyan's masterpiece and I award it 5+ stars.

As a real Egoyan fan it was hard to wait for his next one: and there it was, Felicia's Journey, a truly good story located in a grey and dusky ambience! Bob Hoskin as kinky Hilditch really shows his talent as an old saviour of fallen angels as he offers help to poor stranded Felicia, cheated by her boyfriend who left her with nothing more than the unborn child. Just watching Hoskin in his old car (the film is residing in the 60ies) will send you chills down your spine because you are expecting something great to happen. And be sure, it will happen in the end. Believe me this film won't disappoint you - it will show you all facets of subtle psychological varieties and in the end you will be glad that it was only a movie or a DVD tape, because Felicia's journey is a hard one.

To start with, I have to say that if you haven't seen this film, PLEASE read William Trevor's novel first. You must experience Trevor's luminous writing before enduring what Atom Egoyan has done to it.

That being said, there are a lot of good things about this film. The cast is superb -- Elaine Cassidy is perfect as Felicia, and a better choice than Bob Hoskins as Mr. Hilditch I can't imagine. Both of them turn in memorable performances here.

The thing that makes it impossible for me to give this film a higher recommendation is Egoyan's inexplicable urge to add elements to Trevor's story. Without writing a 'spoiler' review, I'll just mention that the entire 'videotape' take on Hilditch's 'memory lane', as well as the cooking videos he watches are products of Egoyan's imagination -- they were not present in the novel, and it certainly didn't lack for their non-existence. It annoys me that Egoyan couldn't leave well enough alone -- and it makes me wonder if he succumbs to this temptation with every film he's done. I'm about to read Russell Banks' novel 'The sweet hereafter' to find out...

Egoyan's works deal with how we, as humans, deal with the loss of something sacred. In "Exotica", how does on deal with the death of a child, innocence, or a lover? In "Hereafter", we see the same theme explored in another interesting manner. In "Journey", we see it again. In order to appreciate the subtleties for Egoyan's works, you have to appreciate their thematic elements, not to mention his methods of storytelling, as well as his wonderful cinematic eye. "Journey" is a character study in madness, as well as loss. Loss of home, loss of love, loss of innocence. How does one deal with these things? Some must grow up, other must murder. Wonderful acting all around. I highly recommend this film to Egoyan fans and true lovers of extraordinary film. Put your thinking cap on.

I don't write reviews too often, but I want to save you some time. The fact that the Amazon review above even mentions Alfred Hitchcock in the same paragraph with this movie is asinine. It's the company trying to sell a very bad product. I thought about buying this movie for one of those sleepless nights to not only help me go to sleep, but to "put" me to sleep. Trust me.

Okay let's see, a girl goes across sea to find her boyfriend, meets an older man while walking on the street, then get's in his car and let's him drive her across town after only meeting him once before, then STAY'S with him at his home and not only that she let's him take her to get an ABORTIAN so he can kill her. She obviously doesn't know he's planning to kill her, but how smart can you be in the first place to trust someone that much after only meeting them once or twice before. I'm sorry, but after the abortian that's when the movie got to disturbing and ended for me, I couldn't stand watching another minute. Not only that, but it was slow and boring. I was expecting a thriller, but instead I just ended up waisting my time. Avoid this movie, don't waist $3.