The Worst Film Ever

A Disappointing Continuation

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.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The trailer really got me into watching this movie. I like the idea of memory traveling, the casts, the vibe that the movie gave, the settings, and John's personal problem. I think this movie had a potential. However, towards the end there are some unexplained plots. It would be great if the movie also gave the detail for characters like: "mousey", the 3 girls, and John's wife so that people don't have to speculate or search for the movie detail.

The preposterous is something many filmmakers today take for granted. I keep smelling an air of carelessness in the plots of many of TV programs and films that reveal a disdain storytellers have for their audience. Maybe they think that since moviegoers spend a billion on seeing The Avengers, Harry Potter & Pirates of the Caribbean, they must be willing to buy anything. I sincerely thought that style of filmmaking went into the production of Anna...John Washington is a "Memory Detective". He does some type of Star Trek mind meld with crime victims, in order to... well, that's one of the fuzzy things that the storytellers never really firm up. Does he go into the minds of these victims to recover lost memories like license plate numbers, or phone numbers? Of course that theory is blown out of the water with the first scene when he goes deep into the plight of a survivor of an assault, so that he can...well, again, they never really address why. But it's a salacious assault. And it looks good cinematically.While John is peeping in on that assault, his "memories intrude". He remembers that his wife died…not of an assault, but hey. His intrusive memories cause him to have a stroke, and he's out of the game for months. He is "lucky" to get his next assignment: making a sixteen year old girl end her hunger strike.Why they would call in a "Memory Detective" and not a counselor is up for debate. Are hunger strikes now a crime? But enter John Washington who mind melds with Anna, a troubled girl who has troubled girl issues – Sex, Drugs, Money and Art – that play well cinematically. John memory reads her, and finds after a good thirty minutes of story that a crime might have occurred. Perhaps the "Memory Detective" Agency's motto is if you look hard enough, everyone has committed a crime.Actually, if they had gone into depth on a story such as everyone commits crime, this would have been a better film. Or maybe if they would have expanded on the sub-plot that memories aren't very reliable, a good sci-fi story could have come into play. Or maybe if they would have gotten rid of that last twenty minutes, this wouldn't have been such an awful film. But neither the director, Jorge Dorado, nor the writers, Guy Holmes and Martha Holmes thought to do this.It's a mystery where this film takes place, both in time and location. They have very American looking shots of skyscrapers and bridges. (They filmed in Spain.) A scandal brews over an affair of a Senator – but we don't know if he's a U.S. Senator. The writers never give us any concept of how the "Memory Detective" came to be accepted by the courts. But we find out from a hokey newscast that "Memory Detectives" are treated as star investigators, even though in the same newscast it is pointed out that these star detectives "aren't as reliable as DNA".No. Really?

Memory detectives have the ability to enter their client's memories. The largest memory detective agency is Mindscape run by Sebastian (Brian Cox). John Washington (Mark Strong) is one of the best but he had a break down. He needs the money and returns for another job. Sebastian gives him the supposed easy case of gifted Anna Greene (Taissa Farmiga) who refuses to eat. Her mother Michelle (Saskia Reeves) and stepfather Robert (Richard Dillane) are one of the richest family. Judith (Indira Varma) monitors Anna 24/7. As John dives into her memories, it becomes questionable what is the real truth.I like the overall paranoid feel. However there seems to be some easier detective work that could provide proof outside of his memory work. I keep thinking that there are missing pieces or avenues in the movie. I don't know why John is not more suspicious of Anna. The final scheme is so convoluted and specific that it's unlikely to work out exactly like that. The writing by the Holmes need a few more passes and maybe by a fresh pair of eyes. Jorge Dorado is trying to step up to the big director's chair and delivers a workmanlike effort. Taissa Farmiga is intriguing and Strong is effective. However the script is not quite right. The idea itself is not particularly new but I do like the Hitchcockian feel. The final twist is obvious before the reveal but I still like it. The movie could be much better.

Not Fully Satisfying, but Interesting Enough Psychological Thriller. It has a Tendency to be too Familiar the way it Presents the Memory Treks. This Sort of Hyper-Editing and Distortions have just been Done So Many Times that the Luster is Gone and Boredom Sets In.The Story Here is Intriguing, but Again a Tad Derivative, as Mark Strong, Playing Against Type as, of All Things, a Sensitive. A Memory Detective. It's the Future and this Kind of PSYOPS, is Used by Law Enforcement. A Sort of Post-Cogs as Opposed to the Pre-Cogs of Minority Report (2002).The Discipline Known as "Remote Viewing" is Once Again Not Fully Understood by these Filmmakers and They Make the Mistake of Throwing the Term Around with Little Insight Concerning What it is or the Way it Works. Thankfully this is Dropped After an Embarrassing Explanation at the Beginning.Taissa Farmiga as the Ultra-Intelligent and Talented Anna is OK, Although Her Line Reading Here is Inconsistent and Seems Quite Amateurish at Times. Brian Cox is Mostly Wasted and His Part is Never that ImportantOverall, there is a bit of a Muddle in the Movie's Plot and the Ending has been Given Much Criticism, but it's a Delicate Twist and Fits the Tone of the Characters and is Ultimately Satisfying and a bit Different Outcome that Usually Results in This Type of Thing.