When previews started appearing for this movie, I thought it sounded really good. I had intended to see it, but since I rarely see anything in the theatre anymore, I waited for it to come out on video.
It starts out with an investigation of murders called the "God's Hand Murders," and Matthew McConaughey's character, Fenton Minx So launches the story of Fenton (Fenn) and his little brother, Adam, whose mother died in Adam's childbirth and live with just their father in a happy, quiet life. (The father is Bill Paxton). One night, Bill Paxton comes to the boy's room, saying he was given a vision from an angel, informing him that they were God's messangers with a mission to destroy demons on Earth in human form. Adam is like, "Okay, Dad, sounds good." But Fenn, being the elder, is thinking his dad has a few screws loose. As his dad acts pretty normal the next morning, he assumes it was just a dream until Daddy mentions it again. Great. Everything's okay, just creepy, as his father gathers weapons and a list of names, but nothing happens. Of course, it can't stay good for long, and Bill comes home one night with a woman, tied and gagged and such. He takes the boys to the barn with her, and while Fenn pleads with him not to do it, he lays his hands on the woman to "reveal her sins." Immediately, he jerks away as though being struck by lightning, and despite Fenn's further protests, he hacks the woman with an axe. They bury the woman in a place called The Rose Garden. (hellooo Utena)
It goes on like this, and Fenn longs to tell someone (he's told someone will die if he tells) and tries to convince Adam (who's ever faithful and loyal to Daddy) to run away with him, convinced his father is either making this all up or is crazy. He must continue to obey his father with the simple reminder, "I'm your father, so you'll do as I tell you to."
Eventually, his father tries to make him "destroy" the third "demon," and Fenn snaps and runs to the sheriff to tell him everything. Of course, stupid sheriff doesn't believe him and talks to Bill, who is like, "Stupid boy, making up stuff because I punished him" (oh yeah, to be a mean dad and because he was going to try and run away, he makes Fenn dig this HUGE hole in the ground over the span of several weeks to be a cellar for the barn prior to this). So, they go down to check, to appease Fenn, and in the cellar, Dad kills the sheriff and gets sicks, claiming it's the first person he's ever killed. Uh huh. He's furious with Fenn, saying it's his fault, and as punishment (also saying that the angels told him that Fenton was a demon), he locks Fenn in the cellar for weeks, giving him no food and only water via the ever-loyal Adam, until (Fenn is most likely hallucinating) he says he's seen God and believes now. So begins his own first "demon destruction." They get this guy from his house, and while Fenn's about to axe him, he suddenly turns and hacks his dad. Adam is all distrought and etc and Dad whispers something to him before he dies. Fenn goes to untie the guy, but it's too late. Little, sweet Adam hacks him too. >.o
And so, it goes back to the present (as it has throughout the whole story). Grown-up Fenn has taken the cop guy/detective to the Rose Garden, where all the victims are buried. There, he talks about the promise Adam made him, to bury him in the Rose Garden. The detective's like, "So you killed Adam and buried him here?" And Fenn replies, "No, see, I didn't kill him, I destroyed him, and fulfilled the promise I made to him." The detective's all, "...That doesn't make any sense." And Fenton turns and says, "It does if I'm Adam Minx."
Oooooooh. I had to rewind this and watch it again to be sure I heard correctly. The detective deduces that this man is the "God's Hand Murderer" and prepares to arrest him. Basically, the gist I get from this is, Adam grew up to be like his father, the God's Hand Murderer, but somehow Fenton played a part in this too? Because eventually, Adam killed Fenton, and this is where he stands today. He explains to the detective that they really were demons, and that when his father laid his hands upon them, he really saw what they had done, and there's flashes back to the victims and what they had done (i.e., the first lady murdered her husband? the second guy was, like, a child molester and murderer, etc), and--oh yeah, there's been a very little discussion about the detective's mother, who Fenn/Adam saw in a picture on his desk, and he says she was murdered. Adam lays his hands on the detective now, and it reveals that he murdered his mother in cold blood. When asked how he knew, Adam replies that he was "on his list." He kills the detective and goes back to town.
The cops from where the detective are conclude that he's dead and the guy that came in the other day did it, but when they go some sheriff's office (@.@??), the sheriff is Adam, and it sucks, but I can't remember what he tells them. The movie basically ends like that.
I'm really still so confused by this movie. The ending is still foggy and unclear in my head... I don't understand exactly what happened to the boys when they got older. It seems to say that the real Fenton was actually the God's Hand killer, and was mad (who wouldn't be...@.@), and that Adam just picked up where he left off? Is that not it? I haven't a clue.... And then, the whole idea of the movie. Were they really God's Messangers. One thinks through the first 3/4 of the movie, 'Of course not, the dad is just a nut,' but when Adam reveals what he saw from these people, and the fact that they would see it when they touched them, and the expressions of the people when they were discovered... I mean, of course these people aren't demons. They're just sick, twisted, horrible individuals in our society, but was it really a mission from God that they were to be destroyed? It's just odd to think of it as lunacy, like, how they know exactly who these people are when they see them and such... I'm just unsure and confused. So many questions....
Yay! What I liked: The sheer atmosphere of this movie. It was incredible. So entirely creepy and suspenseful, but in a very realistic way. It was creepy in the way that aliens or monsters of Michael Meyers is, but the fact that we can see a human committing these terrible, horrifying slaughters and the whole idea behind it, of them being demons. The setting, the lighting, the effects... it was all just /perfect/ to achieve what they were going for: an eerie, bleak, quiet fear. The acting was superb. Bill Paxton was good and very convincing as the father who apparently goes a little bit coo-coo, and you really can believably hate and despise him for how he treats his sons, what he exposes them to, and what he does. The youngest boy, Adam, was very good, for being so young, and faintly creepy despite his brattiness about "I want to see God." and such. All the side characters were fine and such, but the one I really loved was (young) Fenton. Gods. This kid, Matt O' Leary, is added to Haley Joel Osment and Daniel Radcliffe on little boys I want to marry. Such a great little actor.. I was so drawn into his performance and such... it amazes me, these young actors popping out who are so completely alive with all their performances. A true gift, he has. Your heart truly breaks for him in all this, and he's just so great in every scene... *sighies* He's what really made the movie wonderful for me.
I really loved the characterization and the writing. Both came through very nicely, and all but the father and the detective really came through to me as believable, real characters. Will comment on Daddy and Detective in a moment. The lines were nice and not out of place, and any that could be seen as corny or kooky were made up for with good acting.
The story was, of course, wonderful, despite little holes and confusion here and there. It was a creative, imaginative, insightful story, certainly not something I could have thought up.
Next: Things I didn't like: The confusion. Maybe these were holes, and I just liked the story too much to notice, but those things I was unclear about took away from extra extra liking of this movie. After all, you can't necessarily enjoy something completely that you don't understand. I think they could have presented the ending a little clearer way. The whole "are they really God's messangers, or crazy?" question isn't something to be cleared up, I suppose... Since that's most likely the point of the movie: to let the audience determine for themselves. But I feel like on one of those standardized tests, where they give you a problem, tell you to solve it, and one of the multiple choice answers is, "Not enough information to solve." I feel like I don't have enough to base whatever decision I make on, and that's something that bothers me about it.
Despite wonderful characterization, I'm just a little miffed about some motives and etc. The most obvious is the detective. He's cool and believable and etc throughout the whole movie, until the ending, and you're left with absolutely NO explanation why he hacked his mother with a butcher knife while she was out by the clothes lines. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. You're just like, "Oooh, he killed his mother. That's terrible! ......Um...... are you going to tell me why now?" and the movie makes a decisive decision and says, "No." o.o;;; Er... okay. So, that weirded me out. The father, very nicely portrayed by Billy-Boy, is just kind of hazy. I guess he's supposed to be... He just seems odd and wishy-washing. *shrugs* I dunno what I mean.
I didn't particuarly like the ending. It felt abrupt, unsettled, and confusing. Maybe that's what they were going for. Either way, I didn't like it. I haven't a clue what I want to happen, or what I want to be concluded, but it wasn't that.
I really did love this movie though, and once I get more moola, I'm getting the DVD! :D
