Tags:
Film: Columbus Circle
Year: 2012
Director: George Gallo
Writer: George Gallo and Kevin Pollak
Starring: Selma Blair, Amy Smart and Jason Lee
Review:
This film begins with an old woman in her room. She hears something and turns on her light. She goes to investigate, but things happen around her. She ends up being killed by being thrown over her balcony to the floor below. The next day the police are investigating, lead by Giovanni Ribisi. He tries the door across the hall, but no one answers.
He then talks to the head concierge about the woman across the hall, who is played by Kevin Pollak. He tells Ribisi he has never met her, but they communicate often. With this, Ribisi goes back up and finally she lets him in. She is played by Selma Blair and she has nothing wrong with her, she just doesn’t like to be around people. We do learn though that she is an heiress who didn’t want her life and went into hiding. There was something about her father being an alcoholic and abusive to her mother.
Blair inquires into buying the apartment across the hall, but it is instead sold to a married couple, played by Amy Smart and Jason Lee. Blair is angry with the man who controls her affairs; he is played by Beau Bridges. We learn that she wanted it because neighbors sometimes check in on her and she doesn’t want that.
Something else happens though; Lee is drunk and begins to hit Smart. He bangs her head against the door of their apartment, knocking her out. Blair is compelled to help after what happened to her mother. She decides she wants to help Smart get away from Lee. Should she help someone she knows so little about? What will happen if she does? Does Pollak’s character really know Lee like he believes he does?
The big problem I had with this film was that they tried to get a little bit too secret and have a little bit too many twists in the story. Doesn’t ruin this movie, but I did feel some of them were a little bit too predictable. Early on I figured out much of this film, but I wouldn’t say it was overly predictable. I would have liked to see them have tried something different, but it still is enjoyable.
The acting here is good though which I helps make this one better. With as complex of a story as this is, the acting definitely helps keep it going and keeps it from getting confusing.
This one is being added to the horror film research due to what the couple across the hall puts her through. Blair already suffers from agoraphobia and communicating with them makes it worse. As the twists of the film happen, we see there is much worse going on and puts her in an even scarier place.
I would give this one a viewing. The crime story is good, how it plays out is interesting and moves along well. I do not think you’ll get bored and this one has such a good cast it is worth it. Give it a viewing and let me know what you thought about it.
My Rating: 7 out of 10