Orphan (2009)

The ending of this film was spoiled for me and all I will say is there is a twist in the ending that makes the whole film make sense, it is all in the advertising. You join a family of Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard who lost a child and even though they have two children decide to adopt a Russian Orphan, Esther played expertly by Isabelle Fuhrman. There is something going on with Esther and as the story progresses you get a picture of her and what she is like and you know from the promotional material that there is something not right with her.


This is a thriller with an interloper coming into a family, a family that you soon discover have their own set of problems and you even wonder if they should be adopting at all, even if they are taking the older child out of the system. This story is well done, even if you do have some sort of idea about what is happening. What would have been really good would be seeing this film totally from the Mother's point of view and you as the viewer could consider that perhaps she is just going mad and you can watch the breakdown as the husband would see it.


However apart from some flaws and delivery and really needing to see it unspoiled by not knowing the ending, this film is passable and an enjoyable enough thriller and even knowing the ending there is some joy from watching how the film is put together. Overall this is a 3 star recommend especially if you enjoy thrillers and some horror and a very dark element.

Unknown (2011)

March 2011

I went to this film with my girlfirends father as he is a big Liam Neeson fan, so I had very limited expectations, however I did enjoy Liam in Taken. An basically it is Taken with Amnesia, he goes around trying to find himself and in some ways what he finds is intriguing and the twists in the film are awesome.

Liam brings a depth of character to all the parts that he plays that you cannot help but enjoy whatever part he is playing and in his new role as an action hero he is easy to get behind.

This film has some excellent supporting characters with January Jones as his wife and Diane Kruger as Gina the Taxi driver, there is also an excellent turn as Bruno Ganz who helps Liam find information to who he is.

This is a 4 star film, it is an enjoyable exciting action flick with enough intrigue to keep you interested, go and see it.