The fact that maybe subconsciously we still have remnants of earlier versions of ourselves is very intriguing, to say the least. What would happen if we would descent into a hallucinatory state that enables us to access these earlier versions and let them surface and take over our current status of human being?
This is what drives Professor Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) to undertake a series of experiments with an ancient drug he acquires from an Indian tribe. The results of his experiments are more than he could have hoped for. Before long he starts hallucinating during the hours out of the experiments and during brief periods of time after the experiments he is transformed to these earlier versions of humankind, even all the way back to the primordial ooze.
Unfortunately this side of the story enters the movie too late. The first 45 minutes we are watching Jessup rant and rave about religion and philosophy like there is no tomorrow, but unfortunately this is not as compelling as the second part of the story. When Jessup goes into one of his first hallucinatory states, the viewer is bombarded with a visual and sound explosion. The visuals are of such a level that they can be explained in any number of ways, which hinders the movie. Some scenes just take way too long (sandfigures withering away).
The acting is decent. Hurt delivers a potent performance of the man who undergoes all these experiments. His convincing portrayal is what upholds the movie. His wife Emily (Blair Brown) must love him very much, because she endures Hurt's atrocious personality to the end in the name of love. The sceptic Mason (Charles Haid) was just too much, he resisted the experiments with such fervor that it became laughable and certainly not believable, his performance would have benefited from a more subtle approach.
When I said that the story about halfway turns for the good, I didn't mean that it ended good as well. On the contrary, all the credit that was built with the change in story halfway was thrown away in the last fews minutes when the conclusion all becomes muddled and incomprehensible, and that was a shame.
The special effects were nice enough to see, but not remarkable. The Oscar nomination for Sound Editing was absolutely deserved. Technically there is not a lot wrong with this movie. It is just the story that could have gotten a little more work.
7/10
This is what drives Professor Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) to undertake a series of experiments with an ancient drug he acquires from an Indian tribe. The results of his experiments are more than he could have hoped for. Before long he starts hallucinating during the hours out of the experiments and during brief periods of time after the experiments he is transformed to these earlier versions of humankind, even all the way back to the primordial ooze.
Unfortunately this side of the story enters the movie too late. The first 45 minutes we are watching Jessup rant and rave about religion and philosophy like there is no tomorrow, but unfortunately this is not as compelling as the second part of the story. When Jessup goes into one of his first hallucinatory states, the viewer is bombarded with a visual and sound explosion. The visuals are of such a level that they can be explained in any number of ways, which hinders the movie. Some scenes just take way too long (sandfigures withering away).
The acting is decent. Hurt delivers a potent performance of the man who undergoes all these experiments. His convincing portrayal is what upholds the movie. His wife Emily (Blair Brown) must love him very much, because she endures Hurt's atrocious personality to the end in the name of love. The sceptic Mason (Charles Haid) was just too much, he resisted the experiments with such fervor that it became laughable and certainly not believable, his performance would have benefited from a more subtle approach.
When I said that the story about halfway turns for the good, I didn't mean that it ended good as well. On the contrary, all the credit that was built with the change in story halfway was thrown away in the last fews minutes when the conclusion all becomes muddled and incomprehensible, and that was a shame.
The special effects were nice enough to see, but not remarkable. The Oscar nomination for Sound Editing was absolutely deserved. Technically there is not a lot wrong with this movie. It is just the story that could have gotten a little more work.
7/10