Z/Web

Disappointing story about a failed writer who comes up with a crazy scheme: he claims he’s been authorized to write recluse Howard Hughes’ biography and wants a million dollar advance. It’s not badly done, but it’s not enlightening either. There’s never an explanation of why the writer would do this: it seems unplanned, inept, and a really, really, really stupid idea, but we’re just supposed to go along with it that a writer could be that dumb. For example, a big part of the advance money is supposed to go to Howard Hughes and the writer’s stumped at how to cash a check not made out to himself! It’s a real-life story so maybe it’s accurate, I don’t know, but I found myself distracted by such stupidity throughout the entire movie. Oh, the film has some mildly interesting scenes when you’re wondering when the scam will be uncovered, but it wasn’t like I cared about these characters.

This is a film that doesn’t seem to know what it is. Unfortunately that’s key to its nature: there’s a twist at the end that can’t be revealed early, so the viewer’s in the dark for most of the film. Halle Berry plays an undercover reporter trying to find evidence that a rich ad exec (Bruce Willis) killed her children friend. If they’d left it at that it could have been a could film, but instead they must get overly complicated and throw in some red herrings and a doozy of a twist that comes way out of left field and really ruins anything good the film originally had. Sigh. Don’t waste your time.