Review of Bug (1975) by Dj . — 20 Aug 2009

I honestly don't believe the low ratings this movie has gotten really do justice to the atmosphere that the film was intentionally trying to establish, though I do understand the price incurred by such a move.

Friedkin has delivered many a timeless classics and it's sad to go back and see where this movie's screenplay failed him. The acting is great but there's really not much going on behind it.

Harry Connick Jr really has no purpose other than a few scenes and while Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon's descent into a jungle of paranoia is worth checking out if not just once, the film itself was sluggish at moments and far too static and abrupt.

Tracey Letts seems to have had the same problem with medium transfers that Scott Smith had with his literary horror hit "The Ruins". The scenes simply are not suited to the freedom and energy of movies.

While some might call it suspense, the extremely slow build-up is altogether painful and sometimes unnecessary. And aside from a long, excruciating journey through the life of a paranoid schizophrenic, the subject really is just not all that rewarding in the end either, dramatically or thematically, and at times can even be a bit frustrating.