Review of The Voices (2014) by Phillipé S — 22 Jun 2016

Jerry works in a toy factory in a small town. He is incredibly nice but this exterior hides a few dark secrets. He has mental issues and was committed to an asylum for several years. The mental issues manifest themselves mainly through him hearing voices - his cat, Mr Whiskers, and dog, Bosco, talk to him. Until now, this has not resulted in any problems for him, but the cat is quite malevolent. Then he gets stood up on a date, with catastrophic consequences.

Billed as a comedy, this is hardly that. It is quirkily funny at times, especially in the cat's dialogue, but this is a secondary feature of the movie. At its heart it's a dark drama, a look into the mind of someone who is not mentally stable. His intentions are good but the voices, representing, in the case of the cat, the worst parts of his nature, drive him to do bad things.

Quite sad too, seeing how someone can be driven to evil deeds by inner forces that he doesn't fully understand and can't control. All the time he is doing these deeds, you sort of feel sorry for Jerry.

Great work by Ryan Reynolds in the lead role. He is solid as Jerry but then also provides the voices of the cat and dog, and that is where he shows great talent. I would not have known it was him unless I saw it in the credits.

Good support from Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver and Ella Smith.