A man searching for the truth about his wife's killer learns more than he wanted to know about her own private story in this powerful drama. Harry Cain (John Turturro) works as a security guard at a large shopping mall in Wisconsin. Harry's life takes a sudden and disturbing left turn when his wife, Kate (Deborah Kara Unger), is shot to death in the mall's parking facility. Devastated by his wife's passing, Harry begins combing over every scrap of evidence he can find in hopes of tracking down
the gunman and reviewing hours of videotape from the mall's surveillance system. One night, Harry has a vision in which he sees Kate walking out of the house across the street; he breaks into the abandoned home to investigate, and finds some photographs that may lead him to his wife's murderer. However, the more Harry learns about Kate, and as he travels to Montana in search of a possible culprit, Harry begins to learn just how much he never knew about Kate and her life. Renowned novelist Hubert Selby Jr. co-wrote the screenplay for Fear X, while composer and musician Brian Eno contributed to the musical score. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
It's a fundamentally Scandinavian movie, a hyperintense meditation on death and destiny set amid a bleak wintry landscape and played out by the emotionally devastated.
In "Fear X," Harry Caine(John Turturro) is so obsessed with the murder of his wife Claire(Jacqueline Ramel) that it is adversely affecting his job as a security guard at a shopping mall. Not helping any are his acquaintances who either directly tell him to move on or feed him surveillance videotapes.(One would think
the most prudent course of action would be to not bring up the subject at all and to try to subtly get his mind onto something else.) His investigation gets a boost when the FBI informs him that they have a picture of the murderer... The thing that separates superior psychological dramas like "Keane" and "Red Road" from a mediocrity like "Fear X" is a certain fearlessness, not only from the director but also from the lead actor.(John Turturro is good but he is not that good.) This movie would also have been better if the FBI had approached Harry at a point when he was starting to put his life in order. While aiming for a certain dreamlike aesthetic ala David Lynch for some odd reason, the movie falls flat on its face. And after failing to follow through on one promising idea, it disappears into another movie completely which not even the usually reliable James Remar and Deborah Kara Unger can do anything about. Only at the very end does the movie come close to succeeding.
July 25, 2008
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
john turritoro haunting performance of a man desprite to know who kille his wife, by expressing it in frusteration and anger. B+
No quotes approved yet for Fear X. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Fear X'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
