Trance

Trance

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 4/12/13

Reviewed 4/24/13 at Celebration North Theatre

with Gary 

2 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

Unraveling the layers of puzzle pieces seems to be the hot ticket theme in movies Hollywood is pumping out these days. Figuring out the plot in films like Inception and Oblivion is labor; probably more than I am willing to work at. Trance was just this type. Gary and I thought it was OK, but we recommend saving it for the cheap theatre or On-Demand. 

Simon (James McAvoy) works for a thief-proof art auction house in London. Simon, working from the inside, helps a group of thieves led by Frank (Vincent Cassel) to pull off a disappearance of a very pricy Francisco Goya "Witches in the Air."

Something is amiss after the dust settles and Simon doesn't remember what happened to the painting during the chaos of the robbery. This leads the gang to enlist the help of Elizabeth, a hypnotherapist, played by the lovely and talented Rosario Dawson. The layering begins, toggling back and forth between present and past, awake or sleeping, during Simon's hypnotic state. It's quite a trip to follow!

Trying to get to the bottom of the mystery is a challenge for the increasingly impatient Frank, during Elizabeth's many sessions with Simon. You know there is going to be a twist, and there is a couple, but it was blurry on which ones to follow. I think Trance might be better the second time around, but we are definitely saving it for the TV screen and not the Big screen.

QUIET Rating system: 2 Js

Quality: Jj

Understood story:  JJ

Interest: Jj

Entertainment:  JJ

Time:  JJJj