Back to the theater I go. Today I will be giving you my thoughts on the movie The Skeleton Key. Will The Skeleton Key stack up to movies like The Ring or The Grudge? Let's find out.
From the official website:
Set largely in the dark atmospheric backwoods just outside of New Orleans, The Skeleton Key stars Kate Hudson as Caroline, a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's (Rowlands) ailing husband (Hurt) in their home, a foreboding and enigmatic mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious ways and their rambling house, Caroline begins to explore the old mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door, she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret.
The trailer I saw of this movie is what drew me to it. It seemed entirely different from the rest of the movies out there today. Was I right? Well, I'm not entirely too sure I was, after watching it. As the official site says, the movie takes place in the backwoods outside of New Orleans. While watching the movie I truly felt like I was experiencing that part of the country. Having never actually been there myself, I was envisioning it actually looking exactly how it was depicted in the movie. The movie almost made the theater feel colder than it normally is. The surrounding swamps and wooded area provides a perfect backdrop for The Skeleton Key. The old mansion with its rickety hardwood floors and outdated systems adds an extra touch to the overall feel for the movie.
There were several camera tricks and enhancements in the movie. Each time they popped up, it was done as an enhancement to a particular scene not to actually create the scene itself. Nothing really fancy and overwhelming, just some fast framing and quick pans to grab the audience's attention. I'm really glad the director stuck to this philosophy throughout the movie, as a bunch of camera tricks would have spoiled this movie.
The audio is just "there" in the movie. That's the best way I can put it. I felt it was adequate for the movie. Nothing substandard, but just as equally, nothing to run home and brag about either. You won't be missing anything if you end up watching this on a two channel stereo system at your home.
On to more important stuff. I thought all the actors did an excellent job. Each person was entirely believable in their role. Kate Hudson did an excellent job as Caroline. Gena Rowlands who played Violet Devereaux was superb in my opinion. She really made you believe in her character who is a sweet elderly lady who is caring for her dying husband. Even Peter Sarsgaard who plays Luke did a fabulous job. They had to for this movie, or this particular movie would have fallen flat on its face.
The story of this movie is unique and that is what really appealed to me as I mentioned. The script unfortunately was quite flawed in my opinion. The main characters were able to establish their history and roles easily. I felt as if I knew them and could follow them in the movie easily. There were so many other characters that were introduced to you for a few moments, only never to be heard or seen from again. I felt there was a lot of potential for them in the overall storyline of the movie as well. I kept wondering in the back of my mind when I would see them again and what their overall contribution to the movie would be, but sadly I never did. That combined with early stages of the script, I found my attention wandering at times. For example, there were interactions between Caroline and Mrs. Devereaux, where Caroline is questioning and demanding answers from her in the early stages of their meeting. Something you just could foresee would never really happen in real life. I can't imagine an elderly woman from the South putting up with being interrogated by a young woman in her twenties from New Jersey, especially while employing her. The movie did pick up and seemed to solidify towards the end thankfully.
Now as I said, the story is unique. I have absolutely no clue what they were doing with the ending though. Unfortunately, I can't go into the ending much or it would be a complete spoiler for the movie. I'm really into good endings no matter how it ends for the bad or good guy. At a runtime of 104-minutes, they had plenty of time to expand upon the ending in this movie. As the movie ended and faded to black, I was sincerely hoping there was going to be a new scene showing up and giving me a sense of closure for this movie. I guess I wasn't the only one that left the theater that day thinking the same thing. The movie ended and that was that. The rest of the audience grumbled and mumbled to themselves a bit, got up and just walked out of the theater quietly. No, yeah!'s, clapping, excited talk or anything. Almost a feeling of "oh well."
Is The Skeleton Key worth seeing the in the theaters? It really depends on how you value your money and what in particular you like to see in the movies. If you thought movies like The Ring or The Grudge were must sees in the theater and lost something in your home cinema, than you would want to see this in the theater as well. I personally would wait till this hits DVD (as I don't imagining it being too long) and watch it at home.
"The Skeleton Key" opens August 12, 2005 and is rated PG13. Horror, Mystery, Thriller. Directed by Iain Softley. Written by Ehren Kruger . Starring Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Joy Bryant, Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard.
