Post #9 - Gothika

Please note this is a complete SPOILER and I am basically relaying how insanely stupid this movie was for your enjoyment. I suggest seeing the movie before reading this if you have any interest in it being surprise.

2003 Release
Directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz
Written by: Sebastian Gutierrez
Starring: Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz & Robert Downey Jr.

Ok so looking at the stars in this movie you are probably thinking to yourself, wow this movie is loaded with big names so its gotta be decent, right? You have Halle Berry = Oscar Winner, Penelope Cruz = Oscar Winner, and Robert Downey Jr. = 2 Time Oscar Nominated. Well, apparently this trio left their better judgement at home the day they agreed to be in this CRAPPY movie.

Berry plays Dr. Miranda Grey, a brilliant psychiatrist at a women's criminal mental institution. She's married to the head of the institution, Dr. Douglas Grey, and the 2 appear to have the perfect marriage. That is until Miranda wakes up as a patient in the mental institution accused of brutally murdering her husband in their perfect suburban home. She has no recollection of the events and has the words "Not Alone" are carved into her arm. Believing herself incapable of murdering her husband she escapes the institution and tries to unravel the mystery of who killed her husband and why.

Berry is really annoying in this entire movie and always crying or looking helpless and you just want to smack her a few times. Cruz plays a patient at the facility who is crazy and claims she's being attacked by a demon in her cell. She is completely wasted and useless in this movie. Downey plays another psychiatrist at the institution who has a crush on Miranda and he's pretty annoying as well. He tries to help Miranda remember the evening when her husband was killed and it gets all serious and stupid. Eventually, Miranda starts to figure out what happened and its lame. She has visions of a dead girl who directs her to her husband's country house where she discovers he was a sick bastard and tortured to death the girl from her visions. That part was actually pretty fucked up and violent. It seemed unnecessary and pist me off. SO yay Miranda figures out that she did in fact butcher her husband but she was possessed by the spirit of the dead girl at the time. Surely the courts will understand right? But its not over yet because her husband had a buddy. It gets all dramatic and she discovers her husband's best friend, one of the cops who arrested her, was involved in the murders and he tries to kill her in the police station. I can't really remember the details because it was so stupid but she somehow sets the dude on fire and he dies. I think it just ends after that, oh and the significance of the carved words in her arm was that her husband was not alone in being a despicable human being. Isn't that such a happy story? Going back and reading this I feel like a fucking creep for watching this movie so many times. But I will defend myself in saying that I typically only watch the first 30 minutes and nothing of any interest happens.

SO having said all that, I give this movie:

I should give this a 1 but I can't for some reason. It's really stupid and not a good movie but something in me is compelled to give it a 2. It might just be the fact that I watched this so many times. Christian also hated this movie and gets angry whenever he sees me watching it so I think that also warrants a 2.