Gothika is the last movie I have seen in recent memory and the first I intend to review in my online movie blog. Despite the fact that this entry is being made today, I had seen the movie at a 7:35 showing on 22 Nov 03.
I had gone into this movie with high expectations and I particularly forgiving toward supernatural thrillers so I expected good things. Halle Barry was good as can beexpected in this atypical thriller about supernatural vengence. Robert Downey Jr. who played "Pete", her colleage at the mental hospital was suprisingly good, despite the fact that I think he is a complete waste of a good orgasm as a person in real life. Other than the fact that I have a tough time believing the entire premise of the whole ghostly revenge angle, there were a couple of points that I found particularly hard to swallow. First, I really have a tough time believing a big fat slob like Charles Dutton would actually be married to a hottie like Halle. Second, I know that she was an adept swimmer, a point that was established early in the movie, but am I supposed to believe that she could actually hide in the bottom of a crystal clear swimming pool and NOT be seen by the guards with flash lights? The entire aspect that she could escape so easily from what was made out to be such a maximum security facility was REALLY difficult to believe.
The entire twist that her husband was actually the killer along with his best friend who was the Sheriff was a pretty good plot idea, but not an entirely original one. All and all, it was a pretty decent way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday evening.