Review of The Mothman Prophecies (2002) by Timothy S — 25 Aug 2014

Most people have a natural curiosity when it comes to the supernatural or urban legends, and "The Mothman Prophecies" tries to tap into that. It's based on the legend of the Mothman, a mythical creature that predicts disasters and haunted the small town of Point Pleasant West Virginia in the late 1960's.

Unfortunately, the film version of the 1975 novel about the phenomenon deals more with the human characters, and after a promising start, I quickly lost interest in the meandering melodrama. The screenplay by Richard Hatem uses the legend more or less as a backdrop for a modernized fictional tale that is far less interesting than a story set during the time of the otherworldly occurrences would have been.

You never even get to see the Mothman, save for a few quick glimpses, and I would have preferred a film built around events that have allegedly happened. The filmmakers were wise, however, to cast Richard Here and Laura Linney in the lead roles, two heavyweight, Oscar-nominated actors who bring a sense of seriousness to the proceedings. Unfortunately, things are never allowed to go full-fledged creepy, so sometimes Gere's performance comes off as dull and monotonous.

There's a pretty spectacular bridge collapse that closes the film, but like everything else, you're never really sure if it was caused by the titular creature. There's a great story to be told here, but "The Mothman Prophecies" completely misses the mark. It's far too conventional to be scary, and far too ordinary to be remembered.