Fallen (1998)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely Fantastic

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

I own dogs but even I must protest the image this film projects of cats. As an aside whilst the acting is good the film is hardly subtle and is a really just a police procedural.

When you watch a good movie you are absorbed in it, you believe in the characters and their actions, and not once do you have to think 'huh?' because the the plot makes no sense. Fallen ironically falls down on all these areas.Plot holes abound. Why does the demon chase after Hobbes yet isn't able to jump into him, oh except at the end where the whole cliffhanger situation is made nonsensical because Hobbes now has to kill himself to prevent that happening? Why bother driving out to old man Milano's shack to discover the demon's name on a wall when he could have just asked his daughter who already knew all about it? Why... I could go on, but others have already covered this in their reviews.What also bugged me though was the unrealistic actions of the characters: A normal person picking his way through a cobwebbed, shadowy old abandoned house in the woods would be scared witless, yet Hobbes just had an expression of mild curiosity all the way through, even when the conveniently frightening roof beam half fell down (because he took a book off it???) and should have scared the bejesus out of him. When talking to Gretta in a piazza, he doesn't just stand there talking to her as a normal person would do. No he has to dramatically stride back and forward, wandering around her while she stands still and talking loudly so everyone can hear despite the sensitive nature of the conversation. No-one does that! When his brother is killed, Hobbes tells the young boy that his Dad has died. Not only does the child somehow psychically anticipate the news ("he's not just asleep is he?") but then appears not to care when the death is confirmed. No tears, he just looks away with an expression of mild indifference. Completely unrealistic! Hobbes chases a possessed character up some steps onto a railway platform, but when he gets to the platform there is no-one there. Yet we then see that the possessed man is actually on the other side of the tracks, still observing Hobbes. How did he get there? The demon doesn't give humans super powers and this guy was clearly a little portly (I'm being generous) so couldn't have sprinted that fast.Why would the James Galdofino character be asking about Hobbes looking at a map, why was he suddenly so interested yet never followed this up? Why on earth would Hobbs throw his car keys into the forest when he reached the shack for the last time? Even if you weren't planning to come back, no-one would realistically do that, they would just die with the car keys still in their pocket, it was a completely pointless gesture done only for dramatic effect. Hobbes kills his best mate at work yet shows no emotion at all, not even a 'sorry old chum'. Bang, you're dead, now where are my suddenly poisonous cigarettes? He should have been torn up inside about having to do that, it should have been such a dramatic moment. Imagine if you had to kill your best friend, would you act as though you were just swatting a fly?If he was dying from the cigarettes (how did he 'lace' them?) why struggle to run away at the end? He didn't need to, what was the point of that? It just looked good for the cameras. Then having collapsed in the snow 100m away from the house, the camera went to an overhead shot showing him sprawled out just a few feet away from the car and the other bodies. That didn't make sense either.Hmm, I'm mixing up character flaws with plot holes but to be honest the whole thing was a big mess as well. There was no real tension, the whole tag-you're-it demon transfer theory didn't work as well as it should, there was plenty of annoying mumbling so half the dialogue was inaudible, and the ending was completely unsatisfactory and left you thinking 'what was the point of that then?'.Rarely have I enjoyed a film less, and by the end my face had fallen so maybe that's the logic behind the name of the film.

Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas). Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.Roger Ebert gave the film a mixed review, writing "the idea is better than the execution, and... the surprises become too mechanical and inevitable." There is some truth to that. The biggest problem is just how long the film runs. There seems to be plenty of fat that could have been trimmed.It also seems "too neat". This killer (or demon) could be going around, ruining people's lives, but he is obsessed with one cop. And rather than kill the cop or ruin his life, he first decides to drop hints on how to figure out he is a demon and how his power is transferred. Sure, you need some kind of exposition, but it just makes no sense.

I tried to watch this film..had never heard of it ( probably for good reason) but I saw Goodman and Sutherland et al and thought I would watch. It is boring. It takes part of the exorcist and a few other movies ( seven and maybe a 3 stooges flick) and tries to braid something spooky and coherent.. it does not succeed. Washington is typical Washington..all dentures and con..but basically just another black guy that Hollywood decided to make a star ( samuel Jackson is another)..anyway, he cannot carry the movie- a total waste of time..I kept wondering what was happening and what was gonna happen..and guess what ? nothing happened. ever.like a seinfeld episode.clean the link out of your navel instead.