THE INVISIBLE
(PG-13)
MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5)
STARRING
Justin Chatwin as NICK POWELL
Margarita Levieva as ANNIE NEWTON
Marcia Gay Harden as DIANE POWELL
Chris Marquette as PETE
Alex O’Loughlin as MARCUS BOHEM
Callum Keith Rennie as BRIAN LARSON
Directed by: David S. Goyer
Studio: Hollywood Pictures
BY KEVIN CARR
When “The Invisible” came out in the theatres earlier this year, it proved several things. First, it proved that by and large, when a studio doesn’t screen a film for the critics, it’s probably not that good. It also proved that David S. Goyer may be one of the better screenwriters in Hollywood, but he’s by far not one of the better directors.
“The Invisible” tells the story of a high school student named Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) who is beaten up and left for dead. While his body lay dying in an undisclosed location, his spirit walks the earth. Soon he discovers he only has a limited time to solve his attempted murder and save his body from death.
Yes, it’s a great premise, but the execution was very weak. The core of the problem comes from the characters. As a hero, Nick is a bit of a creep. He doesn’t respect his mother, he makes his money by writing term papers for kids at school and his choice of friends is woefully pathetic. There is some sympathy attempted on his would-be murder (Margarita Levieva), but she is a real creep as well.
Where Goyer fails as a director, is he obsesses about the angst and problems in his characters’ lives, so much that he makes them undesirable. The film retains the dark and brooding quality you might expect from the original Swedish film, but it’s handled with about as much American sensitivity as a Nascar race.
The DVD comes with 13 minutes of deleted scenes with commentary, two music videos and two commentary tracks by Goyer and the writers.