Captivating movie !

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The film has a certain style, starting with the opening titles and ending with "THE END" which puts the viewer on edge, but in a bad way.I've seen it twice now, but only because there was nothing else on.I find it creepy, but not in the horror film sense, but in the "Who's the guy with the beard that took over the motel from Ben" sense. Kind of a serial creep. Not creepy as in, Man! that's so creepy, but as in, Jeez, that guy is just creepy.It's got a crummy beat and it's hard to move to. I'd give it a 4, Dick.And one more thing: a TWO-WAY "mirror" is a hunk of glass. It's a ONE-WAY mirror.

This was a creepy, atmospheric psychological thriller! It's somewhat slow-moving plot-wise, but the weirdness, the atmosphere, and the character interactions kept me engaged the entire time. Nicolas Cage and Robin Tunney play a couple who are looking to start over after the accidental death of their young daughter. So naturally they buy a run-down motel in a creepy town. Ha! While Cage's character Ray is exploring the motel, he discovers a crawl space that leads to a two-way mirror where he can see what is happening (e.g. prostitute sex) in one of the rooms. Does he call the cops? Does he dismantle it? Nope, not exactly. This is a weird little thriller with mystery, a little suspense, and some laughs (the kind of laughs where the people are so weird that you can't help but laugh). That's part of what makes it work though. Entertaining.

With most stories, we see a beginning, a middle and an ending. This one has a sort of beginning, a middle and really no ending. Ray (Nicolas Cage) and Maggie (Robin Tunney) buy a motel in the hope of starting a new beginning after the death of their child. The motel is a can of worms and we know this by things that happen for no apparent reason and we never know who did them: a dead pig in their pool, paint on the motel walls, comings and goings of really strange people.We see Ray work on fixing things around the motel, perhaps too many scenes with this going on, then he discovers a 2-way mirror and watches lesbians kiss, dominatrix scenes and the usual sex scenes. He is shocked, but looks anyway, but never stays for too long. We don't see anything erotic. Policeman Howard (Marc Blucas) keeps coming around and we feel he is looking at Ray as a person of interest in the murder of a girl some time ago when Ray came around looking at the possibility of buying the motel. The director could have fitted Howard with more of a form fitting shirt too. Very distracting, like 3-sizes too big. Ben (Bill Bolender) the previous owner of the motel is nowhere to be found to explain all the goings on at the motel. He just has had enough and got out and now it's Ray's problem.Some scenes are uncomfortable to watch, but that only lasts for a few minutes and we see there is nothing there. The ending is just cut short and this is where we should know everything that went on and why. Didn't happen.I am giving a somewhat spoiler alert because this is not a good movie, and actually, hardly any movie at all. Nicolas Cage needs to adjust and pick better scripts. Remember he just recently did a movie where the parents are out to kill their kids? Not good by any stretch. See? And now this one that goes nowhere. Strong advice: stay away. (1/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: Yes, one time. Nudity: No. Humor: No. Language: Yes. Rating: F

As a Nicolas Cage fan I was expecting good things with this film. The write up sounded right up my street. Sadly I was to be bitterly disappointed. The actors were not engaging, convincing or believable, and they all had a permanent look of confusion on their faces throughout the film - they were not the only ones! While the plot was imaginative, it lacked the intrigue and suspense and offered very little answer to many burning questions. On the whole it seems that this was not a well thought out film and had more holes in it than an old fisherman's net. The last few films of Cage's have been poor in comparison to his earlier work such as Face-Off, Con Air or Gone in 60 Seconds to name a few. This is as poor as his previous film Left Behind. I think personally they should have left this one behind too - on the cutting room floor!