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t2toasty
Reviews
Replay (2003)
Wow. A very innovative way to weave a story-in-a-story.
I stumbled upon this one at the Annapolis Film Festival (who knew?) on a weekend out in "flyover country." But I'm glad I did.
The film "Replay" takes you on a mysterious ride using an intriguing new filmmaking trick: the viewer only sees tapes from a security system and listens in as detectives watch the tapes and try to figure out a crime, or if a crime has taken place at all. In other words, the audience participates with the detectives while they do their work. Very cool.
The interest builds quickly as the viewer gets used to this new way of presenting a story, and it draws the audience in even deeper. As you watch the security tapes and listen to the detectives, you follow the many plot twists and possibilities that they discover. I thought we (the detectives and I) had it figured out at least three times, only to be fooled again.
Because you never see the detectives, you might miss some of the wry comedy built-in to the script. But again, that only pulls you closer to the team as you get to know your "partners." You're forced to search for clues just like the detectives, and since you become part of the process, you're pulling for them. You feel frustrated like they do when the plot goes in another direction. The ending had me (and the detectives) totally surprised.
I'd love to see it again just to find more stuff I missed!