What's the Story, Mornin' Glory?

Love makes you do crazy things, insane things. Things in a million years you'd never see yourself do. But there you are doing them... can't help it.

Wicker Park
(2004)

     While attending a business meeting in Chicago, Matt (Josh Hartnett), through a vent, overhears a woman shouting at someone in the restaurant phone booth. The voice sounded just like his long lost love, Lisa (Diane Kruger), who left him one day two years prior without a letter or call. He catches a glimpse of the back of her head and is sure it’s her. Matt is scheduled to close a business deal in China the next day, but after stumbling on a hotel key in the phone booth that his long lost love came out of he decides to hunt her down to talk to her. He uses the room key to get inside the hotel room, but no one is there. The sleeping pill he took for the plane ride starts to kick in and he passes out on the bed and dreams of Lisa and his first date with her. Matt has always wanted to know why Lisa left him so coldly, so he goes into full stalking mode trying to find her. When he thinks he finally found her at her apartment, it turns out he’s been stalking another girl named Lisa (Rose Byrne). However, this Lisa is not who she says she is and maybe if he’d never met this Lisa his life would have turned out completely different.


You Learn Something New Everyday...

It's okay to break into people's apartments if you love them.
Some people find stalking endearing.
Planes don't run after 12am.
Watching someone in their sleep is such a turn on.
Everyone in Chicago wears black except one girl.

Zing!

"Did you get my message.....s?" -Luke, talking to his date on the phone.

Survey SAYS...

     Wicker Park was totally advertised as a horror/thriller flick, but it didn’t even come close to either of those genres. This was one of those movies where two people almost run into each other throughout the entire course of the film, but never do until the veeeeery end. Very scary indeed, I almost had to cover my eyes! The whole mood of the movie was very sloth like. A decent amount of things happen in the movie, but it’s like nothing happens at all. All the characters except Luke (Matthew Lillard) were unlikable and I didn’t care who got Matt in the end. Matthew Lillard really broke up the monotonous feel of this movie. If it wasn’t for him, I truly believe I would’ve fallen asleep with all that soothing lovey-dovey background music and the fact that NOTHING HAPPENS!!! He was, like, comic relief in a sense.

     I hated the camera cut scenes and split screens, which were included in every single scene. Plus there was a freeze frame and a quick zoom followed by a memory recap scene. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times fancy camera work does not cover up a crappy storyline. Speaking of the recap scenes, there were way too many. Like the “fancy” camera work with the freeze framing and split screens, it’s in every single scene. Really, three of them is kind of pushing it, but gets the point across. They should’ve started with one to fill you in a bit and then ended with another big one. But hey, I’m not going to film school.

     By the way, I know these people have real jobs and all, but how do these people have all this money to waste on plane tickets? For Matt to get into the boarding area at the end of the movie he would’ve had to purchase an incredibly late plane ticket to England. This isn’t pre-2001 my friends and last time I checked last minute fares to England were in the thousand dollar range. Plus, Matt keeps booking flights to China and never showing up. How can he afford to not show up to fancy business meetings? Doesn’t he want a job when he’s done stalking people he’s not even sure he saw?

     The biggest crime this flick commits is my number one reason for disliking a movie and that is being…BORING! Like I said before, the sloth-like pace and lack of excitement made the movie drag on and on. Um, hello! I was expecting a horror/thriller, so of course it was boring! This is why you don’t false advertise movies. This should’ve been advertised as a romantic drama suspense, or a toned down version of Single White Female. Anyway. If you like...mass amounts of stalking, straight guys owning shoe stores, kabuki makeup, lots of recaps, and artsy editing then this is the flick for you. As for us...we give Wicker Park

No Burt Reynolds! Burt Reynolds!

That Wasn't so Bad Was It?



Bored
I was left Feeling: Bored