STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Walter (Ashton Kutcher) is training to become a champion wrestler but the tragic murder of his sister throws his life into disarray. Linda (Michelle Phyiffer) is a wedding ceremony arranger whose husband was murdered by one of his friends, leaving her alone to look after her severely deaf son, Clay (Spencer Hudson.) These two people are drawn together by murder and, as each of them finds closure and torment respectively, their lives and the outcomes of their ordeals take unexpected turns that will change both their lives even more.
Personal Effects is not as straight forward a film as the plot description makes it sound. Reading like a straight forward revenge driven sort of film, it ends up playing more like a human drama and an examination of the course grief takes on the human psyche. All the same, writer/director David Hollander's film emerges as an unfulfilling experience, cheaply shot and with lead star Kutcher coming off as rather wooden at times. Though it explores it's themes with a certain sensitivity and subtle observation, the narrative flow fails to really hold together and the outcome is an uneven and unsatisfying film that leaves you more underwhelmed than emotionally drained. **
Walter (Ashton Kutcher) is training to become a champion wrestler but the tragic murder of his sister throws his life into disarray. Linda (Michelle Phyiffer) is a wedding ceremony arranger whose husband was murdered by one of his friends, leaving her alone to look after her severely deaf son, Clay (Spencer Hudson.) These two people are drawn together by murder and, as each of them finds closure and torment respectively, their lives and the outcomes of their ordeals take unexpected turns that will change both their lives even more.
Personal Effects is not as straight forward a film as the plot description makes it sound. Reading like a straight forward revenge driven sort of film, it ends up playing more like a human drama and an examination of the course grief takes on the human psyche. All the same, writer/director David Hollander's film emerges as an unfulfilling experience, cheaply shot and with lead star Kutcher coming off as rather wooden at times. Though it explores it's themes with a certain sensitivity and subtle observation, the narrative flow fails to really hold together and the outcome is an uneven and unsatisfying film that leaves you more underwhelmed than emotionally drained. **