Spiral (2007)
PLOT- A reclusive telemarketer has only one semblance of a friend: His
telecommuter boss. But the telemarketer's social circle seems to improve
greatly when a whimsical co-worker enters his life. Only, as he begins
to sketch his new friend's portrait, disturbing "voices" from the phone
man's past threaten to lead him into a network of destruction
LOWDOWN - Just last month I attended Adam Green's silent auction for the Boston marathon victims. Green did a week long of events and special appearances to raise money for the tragedy that fell upon us in April. I was lucky enough to attend the silent auction and then the next night the Hatchet marathon where they showed all 3 Hatchet films back to back including the first ever official premiere of Hatchet III. At the silent auction, I had my eye on the prize...and that prize was Zach Galligan's personal Waxwork II crew shirt he donated for the event. Well like a complete psycho I sat up on the balcony where all the items up for auction where I seriously camped out for three hours straight not moving making sure nobody outbid me. (Hey, I'm a dedicated fan!) Well while up there Green, along with several other guest stars stood up on stage to auction off special items. One of them was Hatchet's original star Joel David Moore, who's best known for his roles in Dodgeball, Grandma's Boy, and yep...Avatar. I was sorta stunned seeing him there since as far as I know he's never done any local conventions or shows I've attended to in the past. Well at one point Joel stood up to auction off a DVD copy of the movie he co-directed with Adam Green called Spiral. Here Joel impressed me. Knowing that this was going for such a great cause he took things to a whole new level when he promised that whoever was the highest bidder for this item would be treated to a night out on the town in LA with himself and Green, everything on them. Well a woman standing up next to me ended up bidding either 500 or 600, can't really remember. Still, pretty awesome it went towards an amazing cause. The following night when Jeanette, Casey, and myself attended the Hatchet marathon, I was touched by how funny and down to Earth he was. In fact when we first arrived Green was standing on stage talking about the making of the first Hatchet and the three of them not wanting to be rude sorta stood back in the hallway that opened up to the theater. Joel was there, towering over us listening and leaning against a wall. When he saw us waiting he simply smiled and told us we could go in. That whole night Joel told funny stories with Green about the making of the first film and how yes, it was really him puking on screen in all his glory. = wonderful.
Well I was still in a complete Galligan haze to sadly even care about meeting anyone else. I was running on hardly any sleep, and I think I was still in a daze over winning the Waxwork shirt. So when we were given the chance to meet everyone afterwards, I just stuck to Zach and Jeanette and Casey met everyone else. I don't regret this of course but just last week it hit me that Joel was in one of my all time favorite guilty pleasure movies, Shark Night 3D (Yep, you read right.) All I have to say is "FML!" and just hope I'll get another chance to meet this very cool dude again. Funny enough the whole weekend Jeanette, Casey, and myself kept making Grandma's Boy jokes "Please sit on my face..."
Long story short, I decided just last weekend to finally check out Spiral after hearing so much hype about it. Buying it for seriously a buck, I sat down and decided to watch this indy movie that had some pretty awesome talent behind it.
At first this sort of movie seemed all too familiar, I really don't know why that was but as the movie continued I just sorta sat back not feeling that impressed. It felt as though I had seen a million other movies exactly like this yet couldn't name one. Then as the movie went on I began to become more and more unsettled and captivated as the story unfolded. Somehow you just can't help but sympathize with the lead character. Joel is simply adorable in this, playing an over sensitive, awkward, painfully shy guy. Amber Tamblyn, who I've always liked plays off him nicely with her spunky and lively energy. Still, some of her acting had me cringing. I hate to blame it on the script, but some of those lines just didn't sit well with me. I feel had they paced out the relationship a little bit better, things would have translated better. I also as much as I hate to admit this, but I absolutely HATED Zachary Levi's character. I don't want to blame the actor, but his character was completely unlikeable and seemed very forced. Then again maybe that was for a reason, that the audience hated him, constantly putting down Mason.
The movie did have it's sweet parts such as when Mason takes Amber to It's A Wonderful Life. I found the chemistry between them wonderful, but like I said there are just some lines and scenes that make you roll your eyes or cringe. Her slowly dipping his paint brush into which paint to do her shadow. I almost died...
Oh yeah and the duck scenes. Yikes...
Still, the movie had some tender moments, and others that made the viewer feel uncomfortable. Maybe that's what they were going for...
What I mostly loved about this movie and what redeemed it for any flaws that it had was two things. One was the odd ball love story between Mason and Amber. I loved all the sketch books of all the different women all in the same exact poses. Then of course the big showdown.
SPOILERS!!!
___________________________________________________________________________
I loved how Mason comes into work a bumbling mess, telling his friend/boss that he had killed Amber. Curled up, helpless as he did in the opening of the film when he woke him up with a call in the middle of the night for help. I loved how as Mason is confessing to the murder, his boss simply tells him the truth. That he's done his dozens upon dozens of time. He gets hooked on some mystery girl, paints her for weeks on end, obsesses over her until finally he breaks down calming he's killed her. That he's been doing this years, but his boss has never put a stop to this since it seems to make him happy living in this fantasy world. He explains that he's heard enough, and that he's finally putting an end to this. He tells his friend the truth and tells him to think about it. Think of all those times he was out with her, how nobody never spoke to her, talked with her, or even noticed her.
She's never existed...none of these girls in his paintings have.
Mason tries to show him the blood on his hands, but his boss simply tells him he's never seen blood on his hands, only paint. Here it truly hits Mason about the reality of what happened and he understands. His boss tells him to clean up and Mason simply leaves. Moments later a manager comes strolling into the boss' office, asking him if he's seen the new girl around. A girl named Amber who has been hanging around Mason lately. That's when it hits the friend. Mason was telling the truth. There really was an Amber, and he did in fact kill him. Sadly before the boss can reach his friend, Mason has left.
The question now remains, how many girls were real?
______________________________________________________________________
Spiral is all about build up. You may not be a fan of the first hour, but the last fifteen or so minutes are the total payoff. Like old fashion suspense thrillers, Spiral gives a very in depth look of a twisted man's mind, and how far down the rabbit hole you'll go with him. Even though the movie did have plenty of flaws, I totally have to hand it to Moore and Green on co-creating this awesome movie that seriously has one of the best twists I've seen in a very long time.
4 Stars!
At first this sort of movie seemed all too familiar, I really don't know why that was but as the movie continued I just sorta sat back not feeling that impressed. It felt as though I had seen a million other movies exactly like this yet couldn't name one. Then as the movie went on I began to become more and more unsettled and captivated as the story unfolded. Somehow you just can't help but sympathize with the lead character. Joel is simply adorable in this, playing an over sensitive, awkward, painfully shy guy. Amber Tamblyn, who I've always liked plays off him nicely with her spunky and lively energy. Still, some of her acting had me cringing. I hate to blame it on the script, but some of those lines just didn't sit well with me. I feel had they paced out the relationship a little bit better, things would have translated better. I also as much as I hate to admit this, but I absolutely HATED Zachary Levi's character. I don't want to blame the actor, but his character was completely unlikeable and seemed very forced. Then again maybe that was for a reason, that the audience hated him, constantly putting down Mason.
The movie did have it's sweet parts such as when Mason takes Amber to It's A Wonderful Life. I found the chemistry between them wonderful, but like I said there are just some lines and scenes that make you roll your eyes or cringe. Her slowly dipping his paint brush into which paint to do her shadow. I almost died...
Oh yeah and the duck scenes. Yikes...
Still, the movie had some tender moments, and others that made the viewer feel uncomfortable. Maybe that's what they were going for...
What I mostly loved about this movie and what redeemed it for any flaws that it had was two things. One was the odd ball love story between Mason and Amber. I loved all the sketch books of all the different women all in the same exact poses. Then of course the big showdown.
SPOILERS!!!
___________________________________________________________________________
I loved how Mason comes into work a bumbling mess, telling his friend/boss that he had killed Amber. Curled up, helpless as he did in the opening of the film when he woke him up with a call in the middle of the night for help. I loved how as Mason is confessing to the murder, his boss simply tells him the truth. That he's done his dozens upon dozens of time. He gets hooked on some mystery girl, paints her for weeks on end, obsesses over her until finally he breaks down calming he's killed her. That he's been doing this years, but his boss has never put a stop to this since it seems to make him happy living in this fantasy world. He explains that he's heard enough, and that he's finally putting an end to this. He tells his friend the truth and tells him to think about it. Think of all those times he was out with her, how nobody never spoke to her, talked with her, or even noticed her.
She's never existed...none of these girls in his paintings have.
Mason tries to show him the blood on his hands, but his boss simply tells him he's never seen blood on his hands, only paint. Here it truly hits Mason about the reality of what happened and he understands. His boss tells him to clean up and Mason simply leaves. Moments later a manager comes strolling into the boss' office, asking him if he's seen the new girl around. A girl named Amber who has been hanging around Mason lately. That's when it hits the friend. Mason was telling the truth. There really was an Amber, and he did in fact kill him. Sadly before the boss can reach his friend, Mason has left.
The question now remains, how many girls were real?
______________________________________________________________________
Spiral is all about build up. You may not be a fan of the first hour, but the last fifteen or so minutes are the total payoff. Like old fashion suspense thrillers, Spiral gives a very in depth look of a twisted man's mind, and how far down the rabbit hole you'll go with him. Even though the movie did have plenty of flaws, I totally have to hand it to Moore and Green on co-creating this awesome movie that seriously has one of the best twists I've seen in a very long time.
4 Stars!
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