I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This story is a drama about a man (James Franco who plays "William") whom is going to find his life in a new identity. It is also about how he is going to loose it, that is "loosing his life". The movie is being told by "William" and we are to view it in a non-chronological sequence. That make it a bit hard to understand and the viewer has to sharpen his/hers ears. Actually it opens with a scene that is going to happen in the end. We are to be enlightened by learning a letter that William wrote to a character in the play "Ann" (whom is part of a group that's being mentioned later) She reads it and then we know, but we will be hearing Willims voice. Pay attention to this letter. William will tell what happened to him, as we listen we will be watching' scenes that undertakes his experience.The other title "Shadows and Lies" are much better than "William Vincent" because it reflects on taking a new identity. A new identity could be a lie, it could be a shadow of the former identity too. At least that's what the man we are going to know is going through because he is becoming a shadow and a lie in terms of all who once knew him, is going to think he no longer exist, but he does, it's just a lie now. He is becoming a burton to himself, a lie, on which he cannot prevail. Then he dies.After he misses a plane which then crashes and leaves everyone on-board dead and incinerated, he finds himself "alive" but then chooses not to go home but continue on to a new life. He doesn't explain why but he does get a new "fake" passport identity in the back-store of a Chinese restaurant. A new name to live on. He then gets a job, but no friends?, what does he do?, he is searching but he seems like a social mishap, he no longer understand the value and seems to be playing with other people. Starts to pick-pocket just for fun, he has money, doesn't need them, he steal a telephone, then throughs it in a waste-container. He is not after that! He needs some inputs/stimuli from other people. The scene where he steals a telephone leads him on to a group that shows interest in him. They think he has skills, they want to use him, make him a part of what they do. He accepts and this new relation is all the movie is about, his identity being build up and then taking apart. Very dramatic and truth-full movie, that is - yes, society has it's dark sides.

I am going to default to the GradyHarp review that is among theses many reviews. Mostly from disappointed viewers. Grady Harp hits the ball right on all points about this Jay Anania film.This movie is for people who delve into symbolism, contemplative scenes of quiet and delicate colors and the messages humans can project with just expression and few or no words.William Vincent is obviously a person with a disturbing past that he believes he can change with his 'new identity'. Unfortunately he is the same person inside and no amount of paperwork can change that.A film lover will enjoy this movie, it's music, it's colors, it's shadows, and it's story. Great dialog, camera work, and the pacing is perfect for the persons that we see!

This movie is awful! It moves extremely slow and it has random moments of nothing that seem to last forever. Summed up...it will show a photo up close of an insect for 5 minutes while different people are narrating. Then it shows the guy randomly doing things like just sitting there eating staring off blankly or just standing there yet again blankly staring at something and we watch them do this nothingness for a good few minutes. Then it will flash to the leading lady in a different setting doing a random guy for a minute and then flash back to him eating blankly staring and we switch between the two a few times before moving on to another picture of an insect with a different narrator in the background followed by him standing on a train staring into space and then it flashes back and forth between him standing/staring on the train and the lady doing a different random guy. Most of the movie moves extremely slow with little talking and even less interesting things happening...BORING!!! I guess that's what you get when you buy a $1 movie from the dollar tree. All in all I am giving this movie 1 star only because I have to...if it were up to me I wouldn't be that generous. I am at the point where I would almost pay the store to take it back!

Disappointment.Great casting, no story for a long piece. Really long, tried to be something more, but the length was overwhelming. Fell asleep for 15 min and didn't lose anything as I continued to watch..... Could have been made into short film, a much shorter film. Franco brooding, sans dialogs pieces, didn't go.he does this well. Looking pasty and attractive..The music at points was obtrusive and disgracing. Visually it was pretty to watch, the coloring, beautiful exterior shots, but not for this long.The movie left me with nothing....