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The Lazarus Project (2008)
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Saturday, 01 November 2008 00:00 |
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DVDs -
Reviews
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Genre: Horror/Sci-fi
Released: October 21st, 2008
Rating: Unrated
Director: John Glenn
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Starring: Paul Walker, Piper Perabo, Brooklynn Proulx, Bob Gunton, Lambert Wilson, Linda Cardellini, Tony Curran
Studio: Sony Pictures
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Some Realities Have No Escape...
The Lazarus Project begins as we join Ben (Paul Walker, The Fast and The Furious), a simple Dallas brewery worker, as he adjusts to life on parole. We never do really learn why he was in jail, but as he seems to be such a nice, gentle guy, we sympathize with him. Happily living life above-the-board, Ben is suprised when his little brother tries to convince him to go with him on a big robbery. Of course he says 'no', but we know that he will, or else this would be a really short movie, right?
A few days later, Ben loses his brewery job, and he reluctantly agrees to his brother's plan. As you can probably guess, everything goes wrong during the big heist and a police officer and Ben's brother are killed. Even though gentle Ben never drew a weapon, he is convicted for the murders and sentenced to death.
After an emotional good-bye visit with his wife and daughter, Ben is strapped to a table and we watch as he dies by lethal injection. But then the next thing we see is Ben in a new life with only flashback-memories of his former one. He learns that this is the first day of his new job- as a groundskeeper in an Oregon mental hospital. But as his flashbacks and his suspicions increase, Ben knows that this new life of his is a lie and he becomes determined to get back to his wife and daughter - no matter what the cost.
I found The Lazarus Project to be a little slow, but it's not without purpose, mind you. The filmmakers were trying to create a moody and spooky film and they succeeded. The viewer so empathizes with Ben's character and every discovery that he makes has the viewer wishing revenge on these people, too.
The only real problem that I had with this movie was that the ending was just a little too predictable. The filmmakers spend a lot of time actually showing you what's going to happen, while we are given only little snippets of the 'fallen-angel/supernatural' element. I just felt that it could have been used more, as it would have taken us down a different path - one that would have been more confusing and upsetting.
While The Lazarus Project was a little disappointing at the end, it is a well done film and is definitely worth a rental.
Overall Rating : 2 1/2 |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 27 March 2009 15:31 )
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