The I Inside (2004)

One of my all time favorites.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This is one of those movies you'll spend in awe of how utterly stupid the main character is. Constantly making dumb decisions not because of honest mistakes, but because the writers couldn't think of how to continue the poor excuse for a plot without him constantly buggering up.Alone in a room with a woman who has a single copy of evidence of your crimes, shows it to you, and you let her walk out and continue blackmailing you.You've seen first hand how your brother died, yet when given the opportunity to walk away you follow the exact same steps that led to his death in the first place.What's most shocking is that this waste of film was written by the same guy that did the fantastic Identity.Massive waste of time.

Ryan Phillippe is Simon Cable, waking up in a hospital room, unclear how or why he is there. Stephen Rea (of 'Guinivere' with Polley) is Doctor Newman, who very calmly explains he had been in an accident and asks Simon questions to see if his mind is working OK. Simon knows who he is, but thinks it is 2000 when in fact it is 2002. Plus he has been married for two years and has no recollection of that. From that fairly straight-forward beginning comes a jumble of things I found impossible to keep up with. Sometimes we see Simon in the hospital in 2000, and at other times, dressed differently we see him in 2002. At times he will be talking to Sarah Polley as Clair, but when she exits just seems to disappear. At other times he is talking to Piper Perabo as Anna, and she too will disappear.Then there are the scenes with his brother, Robert Sean Leonard as Peter Cable, who was supposed to have died two years earlier. They are in the old, large house they had jointly inherited when their parents died and there was some issue with the disposition of the property.While the whole concept for this movie seems interesting, overall I didn't enjoy it because it was just too difficult to follow, for the situations revealed at the end.SPOILERS: As it turned out, Simon was in fact no longer alive, but spiritually had not let go of the complications in his life. He apparently caused his brother's death in an argument in the house, and Peter fell to his death. Simon apparently was having an affair with Peter's wife.

I've never liked the idea of test screenings. The changes they make just end up neutering a movie and making it "safe" for the general masses. But if ever a movie needed feedback to prompt a rewrite and alternate ending, this is it. The first half of this movie is spectacular. It's atmospheric, tense, and confusing (in a good way). It kept you guessing the whole way. Much like Memento, it's an intelligent film that makes you watch closely and think. The story could have gone a number of directions....but the last half, it all falls apart. They start changing the "rules", the suspense gives way to straight storytelling, and the ending goes a completely different direction than it could have, and SHOULD have. It's not just that I didn't like the ending or that it didn't match my predictions. The problem is the truth is still unclear and viewers are left confused. Too much is left unexplained. As it is, the film is wasted potential. A good story and a good movie, but one that could have been so much better with a different ending.

What happens when you go to the cinema to watch "Just My Luck" but it is sold out, and so is "RV" and "United 93", and "The Ant Bully" and, believe it or not, "Curious George" where films you could see earlier? You end up watching "The I Inside". I don't want to write about this movie… I don't want to write about this movie. With a lot (a lot) of delay, "The I Inside" has arrived to our cinema theaters.What on earth went wrong here? I can do some research and find the answer, although if isn't worth the space of my page. Roland Suso Richter, a German director, came to try in Hollywood and directed this picture. He's too stylish for what the viewer is used to see. He invents too much and ends up confusing him (although that's in part fault of the screenplay). What happened to him? He is directing TV in Germany and Hollywood hasn't looked for him in three years.Writer Michael Cooney…Is this the same guy that wrote "Identity"? Is it possible for him to write such a mess as "The I Inside"? Apparently it is, and if you want to save him you could forgive him because the screenplay was adapted from his own play, and as I have said before, a play can be good but it doesn't have to make a good movie. Joined by Timothy Scott Bogart, Cooney takes you inside the world of a man who is able to change the future by changing the past.I mean, of course the material they had in their hands was interesting; it could have created a cult classic or something everyone would have talked about. But that's not how it went down, and if you try to understand the film, you will get to the bottom of it. There is an explanation; but you're so tired by the time it arrives that you don't want to figure out anything.Tiring is one of the best words to define "The I Inside"; and it is impossible not to compare it with "The Butterfly Effect", a film where you don't want to get to the end. You've got to compare then because the first one sucks and the latter one is great; because the cast of the first one is way superior to the latter one's… I like Ryan Phillippe is a starring role: I liked "Cruel Intentions" and very much liked "Antitrust". But how can an actor like him not carry a film like this one? How can Ashton Kutcher do it better? Sarah Polley is much more talented than Amy Smart, but the same situation occurred. And Robert Sean Leonard; he is better than the whole 'Butterfly' cast put together…And Stephen Rea: he is an Oscar Nominated actor; please! You can also find Piper Perabo in "The I Inside" but I doubt you'll be interested after all I've said. Forgive me if I'm to harsh, but there are few movies as bad as this one…It's the truth.