The Prodigy
1.5/4
Starring: Taylor Schilling, Peter Mooney, Jackson Robert Scott, Colm Feore
Rated R for Violence, Disturbing and Bloody Images, A Sexual Reference and Brief Graphic Nudity
"The Prodigy" is a lazy movie. It's by the numbers filmmaking with a lame script, flat characters and a gimmick that isn't as explored as it could be. Do people in Hollywood have any pride? If you're going to spend millions on a movie, why do the bare minimum? Movies like "The Descent" and "Halloween" have lingered because the filmmakers worked tirelessly to create the scariest movie they possibly could. Here, they all but copied the most used screenplay about a scary kid, changed a few of the details, and got it to theaters as fast as they could. With this lack of effort I'm surprised they bothered to shoot the thing.
Sarah (Schilling) and John Blume (Mooney) have finally gotten what they always wanted: a family. They are beyond thrilled when their son Miles turns out to be super smart (he says his first words at around a year old). But as Miles (Scott) gets older, disturbing patterns start to emerge. He has sudden personality shifts and violent behavior. When Miles starts speaking gibberish in his sleep, that alerts his shrink, who takes the boy to a new age doctor by the name of Arthur Jacobsen (Feore). Jacobsen believes that Miles's personality is battling with another for control of his body, and his foe isn't a nice person.
The film's gimmick, that a little boy can (at least partly) become possessed by a lunatic has promise. The problem is that the film never exploits this effectively. It's all cheap shocks and "scary" scenes we have seen in countless other movies. And done much better, too. If there is an original moment in this movie, I missed it.
The one consolation is that the lead role is played by Taylor Schilling. Schilling is a natural actress (who bears an uncanny resemblance in this movie to German beauty Diane Kruger), earning our empathy with only a few moments of screen time. As a woman who loves and is frightened by her son, she's as good as the material allows her. Her co-star, Peter Mooney, isn't quite as good, but they're believable as a couple. Unfortunately, Jackson Robert Scott doesn't fare as well. He's adequate when he's menacing, but when he goes for sympathy it irritated my gag reflex. Colm Feore, who is as reliable as they come, sleepwalks through his role.
"The Prodigy" is more lame than awful. It's not painful to sit through and there are a few spooky moments here and there, but even the best moments the film has to offer are pale imitators of other movies. For example, the bit with the tape recorder is reminiscent of a similar situation in "Event Horizon," but it isn't even half as creepy here. It is better than director Nicholas McCarthy's earlier film, but the less said about "The Pact," the better. Still, when you make a movie that is "lame" as opposed to "idiotic," I suppose it's an improvement.
This is one of those movies you'll find in the discount bin or shoved into a combo pack. That's what happens when you're just going through the motions.
Starring: Taylor Schilling, Peter Mooney, Jackson Robert Scott, Colm Feore
Rated R for Violence, Disturbing and Bloody Images, A Sexual Reference and Brief Graphic Nudity
"The Prodigy" is a lazy movie. It's by the numbers filmmaking with a lame script, flat characters and a gimmick that isn't as explored as it could be. Do people in Hollywood have any pride? If you're going to spend millions on a movie, why do the bare minimum? Movies like "The Descent" and "Halloween" have lingered because the filmmakers worked tirelessly to create the scariest movie they possibly could. Here, they all but copied the most used screenplay about a scary kid, changed a few of the details, and got it to theaters as fast as they could. With this lack of effort I'm surprised they bothered to shoot the thing.
Sarah (Schilling) and John Blume (Mooney) have finally gotten what they always wanted: a family. They are beyond thrilled when their son Miles turns out to be super smart (he says his first words at around a year old). But as Miles (Scott) gets older, disturbing patterns start to emerge. He has sudden personality shifts and violent behavior. When Miles starts speaking gibberish in his sleep, that alerts his shrink, who takes the boy to a new age doctor by the name of Arthur Jacobsen (Feore). Jacobsen believes that Miles's personality is battling with another for control of his body, and his foe isn't a nice person.
The film's gimmick, that a little boy can (at least partly) become possessed by a lunatic has promise. The problem is that the film never exploits this effectively. It's all cheap shocks and "scary" scenes we have seen in countless other movies. And done much better, too. If there is an original moment in this movie, I missed it.
The one consolation is that the lead role is played by Taylor Schilling. Schilling is a natural actress (who bears an uncanny resemblance in this movie to German beauty Diane Kruger), earning our empathy with only a few moments of screen time. As a woman who loves and is frightened by her son, she's as good as the material allows her. Her co-star, Peter Mooney, isn't quite as good, but they're believable as a couple. Unfortunately, Jackson Robert Scott doesn't fare as well. He's adequate when he's menacing, but when he goes for sympathy it irritated my gag reflex. Colm Feore, who is as reliable as they come, sleepwalks through his role.
"The Prodigy" is more lame than awful. It's not painful to sit through and there are a few spooky moments here and there, but even the best moments the film has to offer are pale imitators of other movies. For example, the bit with the tape recorder is reminiscent of a similar situation in "Event Horizon," but it isn't even half as creepy here. It is better than director Nicholas McCarthy's earlier film, but the less said about "The Pact," the better. Still, when you make a movie that is "lame" as opposed to "idiotic," I suppose it's an improvement.
This is one of those movies you'll find in the discount bin or shoved into a combo pack. That's what happens when you're just going through the motions.
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