I learned in Theater Appreciation class that watching a play or a movie requires a willing suspension of disbelief. We are transported into a make believe world and accept that, for a couple of hours, it is real. That being said, in reviewing a movie or TV show on this blog, I’ll point out inconsistencies in storylines or characters that made my viewing less than optimal. Indeed, movie critics worldwide use plot and character inconsistencies as one basis for their columns.
I bring this up because my wife and I recently saw “1408”, based on Stephen King’s short story and starring John Cusack. I loved Cusack’s performance. It was a similar to Tom Hanks’ turn in “Castaway”- one person on screen for a long period of time with little to play off of- occasionally another actor, but not much else. Special effects were computer generated later, so he didn’t even have those to work with. Non-actors cannot imagine how difficult a task that truly is for an actor. But I digress.
“1408” is a horror movie, so a lot of willing suspension of disbelief goes into watching it. Thus, I had no problem accepting that a picture, once straight, is now crooked. Clock radio turns itself on? No problem! Of course the walls start dripping blood, that’s a given! And yet, despite all these strange things, I found myself bothered by a window.
Early on, Cusack’s character opens the window, pops his head through and looks out onto the street, only to get startled by the clock radio going off. He bumps his head on the window and returns to the room. When he comes back to the window, it’s closed again. Later, he’s looking out the same window and it slams shut on his hand, causing profuse bleeding. Upon returning to the window, IT’S OPEN AGAIN!!!
The question becomes, why do I accept all kinds of weird things happening in a locked room, but at the same time get bothered by these window sequences? When, in a movie filled with fantastical things and all sorts of mayhem, is one justified pointing out that something is not right and can’t be?
Here’s when. With everything but the two window sequences, Cusack reacted. He noticed the picture was crooked. He saw that the walls were bleeding. And he responded when the clock radio went off. But with the window, it never dawned on him that what was once open was now closed and vice versa. Thus, we have a continuity problem and our disbelief returns.
Continuity problems happen a lot in movies and TV shows. They’re not as prevalent on stage, because of the longer period of time between the start of rehearsals and the curtain going up the first time to the public, leaving plenty of time for rewrites. Some continuity problems occur not because of oversight on anyone’s part but because, in editing, it’s decided to move a scene to earlier or later than originally planned, which I suspect happened in “1408”.
Still, problems like this contribute to a viewer like me not enjoying a movie like “1408” as much as I could.
I bring this up because my wife and I recently saw “1408”, based on Stephen King’s short story and starring John Cusack. I loved Cusack’s performance. It was a similar to Tom Hanks’ turn in “Castaway”- one person on screen for a long period of time with little to play off of- occasionally another actor, but not much else. Special effects were computer generated later, so he didn’t even have those to work with. Non-actors cannot imagine how difficult a task that truly is for an actor. But I digress.
“1408” is a horror movie, so a lot of willing suspension of disbelief goes into watching it. Thus, I had no problem accepting that a picture, once straight, is now crooked. Clock radio turns itself on? No problem! Of course the walls start dripping blood, that’s a given! And yet, despite all these strange things, I found myself bothered by a window.
Early on, Cusack’s character opens the window, pops his head through and looks out onto the street, only to get startled by the clock radio going off. He bumps his head on the window and returns to the room. When he comes back to the window, it’s closed again. Later, he’s looking out the same window and it slams shut on his hand, causing profuse bleeding. Upon returning to the window, IT’S OPEN AGAIN!!!
The question becomes, why do I accept all kinds of weird things happening in a locked room, but at the same time get bothered by these window sequences? When, in a movie filled with fantastical things and all sorts of mayhem, is one justified pointing out that something is not right and can’t be?
Here’s when. With everything but the two window sequences, Cusack reacted. He noticed the picture was crooked. He saw that the walls were bleeding. And he responded when the clock radio went off. But with the window, it never dawned on him that what was once open was now closed and vice versa. Thus, we have a continuity problem and our disbelief returns.
Continuity problems happen a lot in movies and TV shows. They’re not as prevalent on stage, because of the longer period of time between the start of rehearsals and the curtain going up the first time to the public, leaving plenty of time for rewrites. Some continuity problems occur not because of oversight on anyone’s part but because, in editing, it’s decided to move a scene to earlier or later than originally planned, which I suspect happened in “1408”.
Still, problems like this contribute to a viewer like me not enjoying a movie like “1408” as much as I could.
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