An enjoyable little thriller if not anything more.
Our main character is surprisingly quite interesting and the movie works best when it is a character study of her. She is a character is haunted by the death of her family and due to this tries to hide her humanity from herself and others to keep from going through anything painful like that again. However she can not completely hide herself from that humanity. While the script doesn't explore this as deeply as it should, Blake Lively's performance sure does. She turns in one of the finest performances of her career, both displaying the outward coldness and the inward humanity. However every other character in this film lacks any basic interest to the audience. The rest of the characters are not only stereotypes of movie characters but they also feel more like plot devices than characters. While some talented actors play these characters, they never get the chance to show off their acting chops in the way Lively does.
The storyline is just as bland as these supporting characters. This is the type of story you will hardly remember a week after watching the film. It is really just a collection of clichés and plot twists that are not properly built up to.
For a globe-trotting adventure this film is visually beautiful. I guess this should come as no surprise once we consider that director Reed Morano was a former cinematographer and he is working with the very talented cinematographer Sean Bobbitt. Together they bring us a fantastic looking movie. Steve Mazzaro's music is also very good and the choices of songs in the background work quite well.
This film provides an enjoyable time at the movies, but it is nothing that will stay in your memory long after you finish watching.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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