Review of The Woman in the Fifth (2011) by J M — 28 Mar 2013

I have a dilemma in reviewing the Ethan Hawke vehicle "Woman In The Fifth"; for if I even begin to describe what takes place here I run the risk of possibly revealing something that may well be better left for another viewer to discover (or decipher) on their own. Even saying that is perhaps revealing too much, as suffice it to say, everything may not be what it appears to be with the film, and as it rests its hat on said ambiguity I cannot comment further.

What I will say is that this film is very atmospheric, filmed in a style where the foreground is always in focus, while the background is often fuzzy. This point of view is overused in my opinion, though it does give you the sense that all is not quite right with what you are viewing.

For me, the first 2/3 of the film are interesting and solid enough; it's just in the last third that the film somehow managed to be far too slow and yet felt rushed at the same time - quite a feat! It's as if director Pawel Pawilowski realized that the script had some serious holes and couldn't decide how best to camouflage - either by getting all artsy (hoping the audience would forget the holes) or racing past the potholes hoping the audience wouldn't feel the bounce. Now, I'm going to (kind of) reveal a spoiler here - the ending is totally predicable and hardly surprising, and for me at least, not the big payoff that Pawilowski was hoping for. For me I felt jerked around, even though the resolution was exactly what I expected it to be... it just felt too pat and, to be frank, amateurish. Too bad, for the story could have been compelling in surer hands.