Stars: Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Penelope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Released: 11/2003
Rating: 2 stars

Gothika is a suspense thriller that combines one of Hitchcock's favorite themes--the innocent person wrongly accused--with the conventions of a ghost story. It is strongly reminiscent of Robert Zemeckis' What Lies Beneath. Zemeckis also produced both films. At its best, it is a fairly engaging film, with acceptable performances from a solid cast. The conclusion, however, is a total let down, bordering on preposterous, even for a ghost story.

Dr. Miranda Grey (Berry) is a psychiatrist at a prison for the mentally ill, which looks quite gothic (I presume that is the source of the title) on the outside, especially at night and in the rain. Her husband, Douglas (Dutton), is also the head of the psychiatric staff. One night, while driving home from work, Miranda is involved in a car accident when she tries to avoid hitting a pale woman who appears out of nowhere in the middle of the road. The mysterious woman says nothing, but appears beaten and quickly erupts into a ball of flame. Miranda blacks out and wakes up to find herself a patient in the hospital where she worked. Douglas has been brutally murdered and all the evidence points to Miranda. While being treated by friend and former co-worker Dr. Pete Graham (Downey Jr.), Miranda discovers the identity of the woman she nearly hit on the road, a woman who died several years earlier. This ghost helps Miranda escape and learn the truth about the murder and about her husband.

The cast of the film is quite solid, led by Oscar winners Berry and Downey. I have been a closet fan of Charles S. Dutton since his old television series Roc. He is an underappreciated and gifted actor with strengths in both comedy and drama. Unfortunately, he only appears in a few scenes as he dies early in the film. Cruz makes the most of a small role of a patient who has nightmares of being raped by the devil. Support is provided in small roles by the likes of Bernard Hill (Th�oden, from The Lord of the Rings triology) and Dorian Harewood. But the core of the film is really Berry; everyone else is supporting. Despite her Oscar win, I am not a big fan of Halle Berry. She is drop-dead gorgeous and certainly no slouch as an actress, but she is not quite in the same league as Michelle Pfeiffer.

As noted above, the film has many parallels to What Lies Beneath. Certainly the basic story comes from the same vein. In both films, a woman is led to discovering truths about her husband by a ghost. The visual styles are very similar, though Gothika is much darker. Kassovitz puts in his fair share of "Boo" moments, just Zemeckis did. The hospital interiors come straight out of Tim Burton's Gotham City. While the film is confined to the hospital, there is a strong sense of atmosphere which holds the viewer's attention and interest. This is the strong part of the film.

Then, Miranda escapes and we begin to learn the truth. As she regains her sanity, the wheels come flying off the movie. I cannot give away what Miranda discovers (which limits my ability to complain), but let's just say the inmates are running asylum. What I find so preposterous is that we do learn that Miranda was in some physical way involved in her husband's gory murder, but she is a free woman at the end. The story provides an explanation (which I won't) but I can't believe a judge would have ruled such evidence admissable in a court. It would be a novel defense. Ugh.

On the strength of the first half I will give the film two stars.

Last updated 03/26/2004 02:17 PM