Every year I pick out one or two cheesy christmas movies as part of my holiday season. Last week I watched the mediocre Lindsay Lohan movie and this week I settled on this movie. More cheese, right? Um, no. This movie is good. I mean really good. Sure, there are the occasional reminders that it is the holiday season but it almost certainly is not a holiday movie (although I do expect that the christmas village scene in the middle of the movie was a wink at the audience from the director). First, the two leads have ridiculous chemistry. And it isn't the crappy syrupy kind that we see in so many other xmas movies. The supporting cast is also excellent, of course (Bonnie Bedelia should have been a bigger star). It is the rare movie that completely sucks me in and allows me to give myself up to it. I didn't want it to end. Some reviews were critical of the fact that there is a bit of a mystery in the movie. I don't agree with that sentiment. As I said earlier, this movie would have been just fine on its own if it hadn't gotten tagged with the "holiday" tag.
Finally, the best thing about the movie is that it is subtle. It didn't beat you over the head with the potential for romance. I would image that many people were disappointed in the last scene (probably the same group that hated the ending of the Sopranos) because they didn't show you exactly what happened. The best movies allow the viewer to fill in the blanks. We don't need to see everything on screen to know that something happened. That's not the point.
The worst part about the movie? I think that this movie ruined the Hallmark-ish kinds of movies for me. The movie started in a traditional way and for the first 20 minutes I had the mindset that cheese was on the way. Instead I was blown away. How do I go back to the traditional schlock? Damn you, Netflix.
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Maybe a bit slow and long for some. I didn't mind the pace. I liked the mystery. I liked the characters. I liked the music. It did have a creepy atmosphere but it could have been amplified at times. The spoilers are where the movie gets good.
MAJOR SPOILERS
Was the girl Lucifer is disguise? She seemed to be judging Corso and even looked pleased when he eventually killed someone. Corso was immoral but I don't think he was evil. In the end when corso and the girl were having sex, I think Corso knew who she was. Lets not forget that the girls floats in mid air, so it was pretty obvious she was at least and angel or something. But In the end Corso gave himself up. He was willing after temptation. He fell in love maybe. And the devil was on his his shoulder the whole time during the movie.
He was already moderately sinful at the beginning, and that was a great start to the character. I liked how Lucifer wasn't interested in stereotypical worshippers or people obsession with her, but wanted to manipulate. The girl or Lucifer is even seen reading How to win friends and influence people in the lobby. After all Corso is the one who approached the girl, who also has the appearance of two faces in a reflection. The devil has two faces remember.
This is a movie to re-watch for sure. I can see why it went over people's heads as it's so subtle and makes the viewer work hard for clues, not that it's an insanely complex plot. But one thing still evades me, and that's why Lucifer wears odd socks? Pure evil
