The movie is never incompetent -- it builds atmosphere, and the atmosphere pulls you along -- but its technical competence is always at war with a story that has a very familiar Ring to it.
Gothika (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:159
Fresh:24
Rotten:135
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Berry's acting talents can't save Gothika from its preposterous plot and bad dialogue.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, brief language and nudity
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Nov 21, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $59,537,388
Synopsis: A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (HALLE BERRY) is an expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane. Under the direction of her husband... A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (HALLE BERRY) is an expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane. Under the direction of her husband (CHARLES S. DUTTON), the chief administrator of the psychiatric ward at the Woodward Penitentiary for Women, Miranda treats dangerously disturbed patients like Chloe (PENÉLOPE CRUZ), an intensely charismatic murderess whose confessions of satanic torture are dismissed by the judicious doctor as the psychotic meanderings of a paranoid mind. But Miranda's comfortable marriage and stable life are thrust into terrifying jeopardy after a cryptic encounter with a mysterious young girl leads to a nightmare beyond her wildest imagination. When Miranda awakens from the horrific incident, she is shocked to discover that her husband has been murdered - and the bloody evidence points directly at her. Unable to fathom having committed an unmotivated act of such sheer brutality against a man she loved and admired, Miranda suddenly finds herself confined to Woodward alongside the highly unstable patients she used to treat with methodical detachment. With no memory of the night in question except for fractured visions of the hauntingly enigmatic girl, the doctor's behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Her claims of innocence are seen as the beginnings of a deep descent into madness by her former colleagues like Dr. Pete Graham (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.), Miranda's sympathetic but skeptical coworker who is wrestling with issues of his own. Forced to rely on her instincts rather than facts, Miranda begins to believe that she has been possessed by a supernatural force determined to exact revenge at the expense of her sanity. As Chloe draws her deeper into her own personal hell, Miranda must determine if she is being driven to madness…or closer to the truth. Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures presents a Dark Castle Entertainment production, Gothika, starring HALLE BERRY. The film also stars ROBERT DOWNEY JR., CHARLES S. DUTTON, JOHN CARROLL LYNCH, BERNARD HILL and PENÉLOPE CRUZ. Gothika is directed by MATHIEU KASSOVITZ and produced by JOEL SILVER, ROBERT ZEMECKIS and SUSAN LEVIN. Written by SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ, the film is executive produced by STEVE RICHARDS, GARY UNGAR and DON CARMODY. The co-producer is RICHARD MIRISCH. The music is by JOHN OTTMAN; the director of photography is MATTHEW LIBATIQUE, A.S.C.; the production designer is GRAHAM "GRACE" WALKER; and the editor is YANNICK KERGOAT. -- © Warner Bros. [More]
Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton
Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Kathleen Mackey
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Screenwriter: Sebastian Gutierrez
Studio: Warner Bros.
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Reviews for Gothika
Salient quote: 'Right now, my mind is running on empty.' Yeah, it's going around.
Once the film moves into crime-solving territory, it becomes ludicrous and lazy.
Movies like this need to be locked up, and the keys that accomplish that need to be firmly thrown away.
A terribly silly movie only slightly elevated by Berry's panicked performance.
A gothic ghost story that's not nearly as scary as it should because it tries to be classier than its source material.
The film has suspense and enough well-done jolts to satisfy the folks who go to movies for those sorts of things, but the more the story wades into the supernatural, the sillier it gets.
It's sure, scary stuff, and fans of heart palpitations will likely find themselves pleased.
Penelope Cruz whispers her explicit confessions with the droning delivery of a phone-sex worker on her third hour of overtime.
What's really frightening are the outrageous plot solutions, laughably cliché scenes and sudden shifts in tone -- all of which don't amount to too many thrills.
Keeps trying to lay out a plot whose every point makes you question its plausibility.
No scene goes underplayed, no performance (save one, from Robert Downey Jr.) lacks volume, no horror cliche is forgotten.
Flattens out before it hits its end, the filmmakers almost visibly losing steam along the way.
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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