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Case 39

Case 39 (2009)

August. 13,2009
|
6.2
|
R
| Horror Thriller Mystery

In her many years as a social worker, Emily Jenkins believes she has seen it all, until she meets 10-year-old Lilith and the girl's cruel parents. Emily's worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to harm the child, and so Emily assumes custody of Lilith while she looks for a foster family. However, Emily soon finds that dark forces surround the seemingly innocent girl, and the more she tries to protect Lilith, the more horrors she encounters.

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Reviews

Moustroll
2009/08/13

Good movie but grossly overrated

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Tedfoldol
2009/08/14

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

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Gutsycurene
2009/08/15

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

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Invaderbank
2009/08/16

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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Tina Willis
2009/08/17

I am a Renee Zellwegger fan. Comedic acting is the hardest genre to achieve successfully, yet she succeeds doing it. I was happy to see her in a different type role and she pulled it off very well. She makes a believable social worker, appearing naturally caring and good with children, and then as the movie progresses at a very nice even pace, her suspicions and then terror comes across believably. Every actor in this movie did an excellent, top notch job. The story and plot moved at just the right pace to keep me engaged and interested. Fast enough to keep my mind from jumping ahead and guessing outcomes, full enough to care about the characters. The direction, camera work, editing (seamless)and score were all superb. Although it I a bit dated now, I still enjoy pulling it up on a rainy lazy day and re-watching it.

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Reno Rangan
2009/08/18

It looked like some kind of thriller, that's what anybody would say if they read the title correctly. The story was suspense, well developed to keep that for a very long time. Though it had no major twist, just a revelation like clarifying our doubts. Because most of the storyline seems alike 'Orphan', the film that came just months before this one. But this is a horror theme, I mean real horror, not a terror-horror like 'Orphan'. The overall story relied on one big secret that revealed at some time in the final act.I have seen many films about the child abuse, and this one set in as a same kind of theme, but takes a turn during the end of the first act. So when a social worker, Emily, finds a ten year old Lilith was abused by her own parents, she takes her away from them, followed by theirs arrest. Later, Emily adopts Lilith, but soon finds some strange events around her circle. That leads to suspect Lilith, but could not prove anything. Finding the truth becomes her first priority, but how she's going to solve it is what leads us to the conclusion part.I haven't seen Renee Zellweger in any recent films, she looked so good in this. Jodelle Ferland too was good as a little girl, the most important role in the film. But Bradley Cooper was in a small part. I think it was a decent film, but not a fresh theme, except developed differently with a new cast. If you are a big horror film fan, you might disappoint with it. Because those parts were minimised and the suspense was maximised. Yet surely most of us can easily predict many scenes, event the ending. So I conclude my review saying it is a decent watch.6.5/10

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forestkitty
2009/08/19

Contains spoilers! I thoroughly enjoyed Case 39 due in large part to the fact that the setup was appealing and realistic, with the overworked, "bleeding-heart" social worker who decides to take a chance on a kid who seems to be in trouble. This realistic and reasonably well constructed backdrop is something almost all B-rated horror films miss out on, and this is where my relatively high rating (8/10) stems from. Really, most non-blockbuster horror films fail to set the scene in any kind of reasonable way. Case 39 does and for that reason alone I found it to be quite a bit better than a lot of horror films I've watched recently. In addition to that, though it is apparent from the get-go that the child will be the source of the horror that is about to ensure, the movie manages to build a good amount of tension and raise a few question marks, before anything begins to happen. There are some good scares, but nothing to make you jump out of your skin or leave you sleepless for nights, or as in my case, to stop you from going to your attic for weeks. Zellwegger does do a good job in being terrified and it's guaranteed that some of her terror will rub off on you too. (Although sometimes her trademark voice makes it difficult to not be reminded of Bridget Jones..)One failure of the movie is that some of the scares are a bit theatrical and overdone. A bit less could have been more terrifying. The resolution of the movie is predictable but I found it to be satisfying nonetheless.Solid horror movie with a bit more substance than most to draw you in and keep you interested throughout!

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Leofwine_draca
2009/08/20

CASE 39 really is a bad film. So bad that I found it to be near unwatchable, and for once it's not down to the storyline, as clichéd and predictable as it is. For anyone interested in the narrative, this tells virtually the same story as the same year's ORPHAN, concerning a little girl who's being seemingly abused by her parents and subsequently rescued by the social care system. Unfortunately the girl is hiding a dark secret...No, the problem with CASE 39 isn't the story, as rubbishy as it is, but the casting. Renee Zellweger bags the main protagonist role and she is completely AWFUL in the part. Whether it's her wheezing, affected voice, her squinty eyes or her frankly laughable emoting, she brings down every scene in which she appears and given that she's in the film for 90% of the running time, that's not good.Apart from Zellweger, this isn't too bad, just lacklustre. Ian McShane has a nice supporting role and it's good to see him taking a bigger physical role in the proceedings than usual. One set-piece involving an oven is truly shocking and the best bit in the film. There are a handful of supernatural scare scenes which utilise CGI but are okay - the bit with Bradley Cooper is quite amusing. I wasn't too taken with Jodelle Ferland's performance but at least she plays it subdued for two thirds of the film. But Zellweger is so poor that she makes this film near unwatchable as a result.

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