Am I Missing Something?

A Disappointing Continuation

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I really enjoyed this movie. The cast is excellent, the plot keeps you guessing and there are several twists in the film that neither the characters nor the audience see coming.Five lifelong friends, Vincent (Karl Urban), Chris (James Marsden), Luke (Wentworth MIller),Marty (Eric Stonestreet) and Phillip (Matthias Schoenarrts) share a secret loft for cheating on their wives. One morning, there is a dead blond covered in blood on the bed in the loft. The five friends all start accusing each other. The story then flashes back to the weeks leading up to the crime and gives you plenty of reasons to suspect any or all of them. Vincent is an architect who tried to leverage a political leader. Chris is cheating on his very scary wife (Rhona Mitra) with an emotionally unavailable woman, Anne (a gorgeous Rachel Taylor). Luke might have feelings for Vincent that go beyond friendship. Marty is a loudmouth, obnoxious drunk. Phillip is a sadistic druggie.The cast does a fantastic job of playing these successful, but very flawed men. Each one could have conceivably killed the girl. The plot gets thrilling when each man starts blaming the other while trying to defend who he is not the killer. The simplest thing would be to just call the cops and let them sort it out, but then the wives would find out about the loft and all five men might be accessories to murder.The reveal of the killer(s) and the resolution were top-notch in my opinion. Even after finding out "who done it" the characters still make stupid, but very human decisions. That's what I loved about the film. The killer(s) identity doesn't end the suspense.My only issue with the film is the short attention paid to the female characters. The wives are one-dimensional and are just there to provide someone for their husband's to cheat on (ex. Rhona Mitra just glares at her husband in every scene. She has made a career out of glaring, but she's still lovely to look at). The other two female characters of Anne and Sarah (Isabel Lucas) are underwritten and poorly utilized (and one of them is the poor soul on the bed).. These characters could have been fleshed out better so they were more integral and integrated into the plot. As it is, they just feel kind of tossed in.I'm sure there is a backstory as to why the studio put this movie on the shelf for almost 3 years. It was filmed in 2011 and not released until 2014. I'd love to hear why. Its a neat little thriller and has enough suspense to keep you guessing. The actors/actresses give it their all and the ending(s) catch you off-guard.

A strange but thoroughly enjoyable film. Almost everything about this quirky, old-style thriller is overdone - especially the music, which is excellent, symphonic, and hilariously brash, booming and thundering through every scene.The respectable ensemble cast chew enthusiastically on the scenery while barking out overwritten, melodramatic dialogue and simultaneously maintaining straight faces throughout. No mean feat.The superb, classy, and heavily stylised lighting is a master class in noir-esque cinematography, unsubtly complimented with intensely over-the-top rain effects.Nothing about this film is subtle or underplayed. And it doesn't need to be. It's pure fun, escapism, and self-indulgence, with stylistic nods to movies of a bygone age. I liked it a lot, and was even surprised at the end by who "done" it, and that doesn't happen often!

I think this is the maximum number of plot twists that can be put in a single movie. The story line is good, beatifically laid out. Many plot twists, you will never see any of them coming.

I have a couple of questions after watching The Loft. The first one is why some people don't like this movie? If you wanted to watch a mystery thriller then this is what you got. There's no way in hell you could see the end coming. That's what makes a mystery thriller standing out from the rest. A good story with some twists you don't see coming. My second question is why do we need to remake a movie that has been made before and even better? I saw the Belgian version of 2008 before and even if it is the exact copy of this version the original was even better. So why spending all that money on a movie that already exists? Just put some subtitles under the Belgian version and you got an even better movie. Saves you money and time. And if you watched this version of The Loft to see Matthias Schoenaerts play in it than you could have watched the original version as well because he plays in both movies. That must be a premiere I think. Anyways, even though I preferred the original version I still think this one was also good. Good story with good twists and with a good cast. What else do you want on a movie night?