Review of Trance (2013) by Everett J — 01 Aug 2013

***.

Danny Boyle is one of those directors where if you see his name attached, it instantly becomes a must see. His movies are always unique, different, and 9 times out of 10 very good(he's made a couple bad ones). "Trance" is his latest and it doesn't quite measure up to his other movies, but it's still pretty good. It's about an art dealer named Simon(James McAvoy) who falls into a coma during a heist by trying to protect a painting. When he awakens he suffers from amnesia and can't remember anything. Which sucks for him, as the group that was pulling the heist begin to torture him as he had secretly stashed the painting they were after. They then enlists a hypnotist(Rosario Dawson) to help get inside his head to find the painting. Sound a little confusing? It is, but it also isn't. There is so much more to this movie, it's just better to watch it for yourself. The performances are fantastic. Dawson is probably her best here since "Clerks 2", and McAvoy is awesome, as usual. That guy is one of my favorites. He is always a bright spot in his movies. Vincent Cassel plays the leader of the heist group, and he is awesome also. I've seen him in probably 3 or 4 movies(most notably "Oceans Twelve") and he always does amazing work. He's just a guy you hate one second, then the next you think he's awesome. The movie has a lot of twists and turns, and towards the end it gets a little muddled up, but it still works out. One you definitely have to pay attention too, but not one that will lose you altogether. Up for something a little different that will keep your attention for a couple hours, then put the smartphone down and enjoy.