Plot: What’s it about?
In the realm of psychological thrillers, few stand out as being good. It’s hard to top “The Silence of the Lambs”, the standard that any film of this genre should live up to. And then there’s “Twisted”. “Twisted” might sound intense and profound, but it’s a classic case of having all of the right elements there, but having nothing really click. Another recent movie that was of this same genre was “Taking Lives”. It wasn’t a great movie, but one I found more entertaining. “Twisted” was directed by Phillip Kaufman who directed “The Right Stuff” and “Rising Sun”, two very entertaining movies – though they were released twenty and ten years ago (respectively). There’s being smart and then there’s being too smart for your own good. And I’m afraid that this movie falls into the latter category. Murders, whodunits, memory lapses, etc. – these all sound like someone read “How to make a murder mystery movie” that they bought at Barnes & Noble. But before I bash the movie any more, I will say that there were some genuinely interesting moments in it, they’re just too few and far between. But as they say, let’s start at the beginning…
And what a beginning. For some reason I felt that when the movie started that I was coming in half-way into it. Maybe it was just me, but we join Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd) as she’s celebrating her promotion to detective. Her parents died when she was young and she’s been raised by John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson), who conveniently happens to be the chief of the San Francisco Police. Jessica, young and cute, has a bad habit of having one too many, stumbling into a bar, picking up a guy and having sex with him (where are those women when I’m looking for them?). This wouldn’t be too big of a deal, but she blacks out from time to time and whenever she’s awakened, the guys start turning up dead. Naturally, the police put the clues together and all evidence points to her as the chief suspect. So right away, we have to ask ourselves – did she do it? Her caring partner (Andy Garcia), of course gives her the benefit of the doubt, but murders keep happening. And we know that sooner or later, her relationship with Mills will be challenged, even though he raised her as his own child. Sounds kind of “middle of the road”, doesn’t it? Now “Twisted” isn’t as bad as I made out, it’s just very formulaic. I suppose the old “check your brain at the door” when you watch this might apply here as well. If nothing else, stare at Ashley Judd for a couple of hours.
Video: How does it look?
“Twisted” is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic ratio that looks pretty good. As per usual, Paramount has another Full Frame version available seperately. Much like the recent thriller “Taking Lives”, this too has its share of dark moments, but the transfer is complimented by a glossy look that takes it a step above others out there. Edge enhancement is minimal and though a few errors persist, it’s a fine-looking picture that’s sure to please.
Audio: How does it sound?
The 5.1 audio is pretty good here as well. For the most part, the dialogue-driven soundtrack sounds very clean and natural. Surround effects kick in a few times and though the overall nature of the score is rather robust, nothing really seemed to stand out as being great. Viewers won’t be disappointed as the reproduction here is good – not great just good.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Paramount wisely beefed up this release to entice some borderline buyers. We start off with an audio commentary by Director Phillip Kaufman who provides a decent track. For a single participant, he does tend to keep talking as those long spots of a director just watching the movie are kind of aggravating. It’s a good track and he does provide some insight. Three featurettes are also included: “Creating a Twisted Web of Intrigue” is your standard EPK featurette containing interviews with the cast and crew. They talk of the movie, its psychological nature, etc. Next is “The Inspectors: Clues to the Crime” in which we meet the film’s advisor (a SFPD inspector) and interviews with the Director of Police Psychology, also an advisor for the film. Lastly, we have “San Francisco: Scene of the Crime”. This shows some of the locations that the movie was shot on and though I didn’t care for “Twisted”, I do like movies that take place in San Francisco, running seven minutes it’s fairly interesting. Ten extended/deleted scenes are shown, though few offer any real insight into the movie. They can be played with optional audio commentary, which is a nice feature. And that’s it. A fair movie, though I didn’t personally care for it, the picture and sound are good as are the supplements.
