Auggie Rose (2000)

Fantastic!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This is a truly superb film, and American TV director Matthew Tabak (whoever he is!) should be out there directing big Hollywood movies all the time, as he shows so much talent as the writer and director of this picture that he should be an icon by now. Is there no justice? His absence from the big screen for eight years is as puzzling as that of Gilles Mimouni, who after making 'l'Appartement' simply disappeared. This film is so sensitively and beautifully conceived and scripted, and so dazzlingly directed, that it is a real addition to the true cineaste's most select DVD collection. And all the performances are wonderful. The lead is Jeff Goldblum, in perhaps his finest performance ever. And most exciting of all is the fascinating Anne Heche, who has a face so full of character that she knocks any twenty other actresses into the shade without even trying and doesn't even need plastic surgery (please note, idiot-starlets!). The lighting cameraman has enhanced this by giving her face a mysterious and eerie glow, bordering on the supernatural. Her role is of a girl who seems to have dropped in from the sky anyhow. This film conveys a sense of the invisible forces at work in human destiny, and you can feel the spirits breathing down your neck. Old timer Joe Santos adds a superb character part to the mix. Richard T. Jones is outstanding. Everybody is good. This is a true ensemble success. The recipe for this wholly successful movie seems to have been: 'add some tabak and stir'. The story starts with a traumatic incident in which a man is killed by one of those disgusting little shits with a gun, robbing a deli to pay for his next heroine fix presumably. Jeff Goldblum is there at the time and the man dies in his presence. He becomes obsessed with this man, who was he, why does he have no next of kin who will claim his body, what is the mystery behind his life? This leads to a meeting with the amazing Anne Heche and a confusion of identities for Goldblum, who starts to lead the life of the dead man and abandon his own. It is weird stuff, but totally convincing. The original title of the film 'Auggie Rose' is the name of the dead man, whose identity ends up spanning two different men. If it were not for the intensity of Goldblum and the spellbinding performance by Heche, this film could have flopped. But the writer/director and the stars obviously completely believed in what they were doing, and therefore they pulled it off and have made a film which is really a minor classic.

This is a real undiscovered gem. The few criticisms posted so far seem based on the peculiar assumption that all stories must be taken literally, like news reports of real-world events.The fascination of this well-mounted 'little' movie depends on the pivotal fact that taking over someone else's life would be a totally bizarre and irrational thing to do. What makes the story fun is our own unexpected realization that sometimes irrationality really is preferable . Goldblum's character is someone who needs to do something crazy, to break out of the calcified shell of his stable existence. If you can't identify with that feeling, all I can say is you must be leading a far more exciting life than I am.Beyond some believably seedy locations (the whole movie is seemingly shot 'on the wrong side of the tracks'), Beyond Suspicion has several great performances going for it. Goldblum is perfect as the ambivalent impostor, not sure what he's doing, feeling at once creepy, guilty and yet strangely also more alive than he ever has before. Anne Heche is the perfect foil, very believable as a simple, lower-class girl with no reason to be sympathetic to Goldblum's peculiar activities. And Joe Santos (best known from The Rockford Files) adds a wonderful grace note as the amiable neighbor.You can typically buy this DVD in the bargain bin for about the cost of a rental. Definitely worth the investment.

Not every movie needs blazing guns or Special FX. This touching film is very good. Also know as Beyond Suspicion, Auggie Rose is a character study that could almost be a classic Twilight Zone episode. I recommend this for serious film fans. Anne Heche and Jeff Goldblum are very good. All the actors are top notch.---alan

Using a plot line similiar to one in one of Cornell Woolrich`s short stories a fine literate screenplay was written.The acting by Jeff Goldblum is superior,as he finds himself in very peculiar crossroads in his life. I hate giving to much of the story away but you will stay transfixed as the screen play unfoldsAnother writer compared this to American Beauty, This is far better, I did not like any one in American Beauty & could care less for any of them In Auggie Rose I liked everyone, even Anne Heche, who is not what I call a great actress, she handles herself very credibly, as all the rest of the cast. Good production values This film is fine entertainment all the way & no explosions or special effects to ruin it. The music score also is quite goodmy rating is ***1/2 It could have moved a bit faster. as always jay harris