What Lies Beneath (2000)

WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000) / ***

Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Screenplay by Clark Gregg, from a story by Sarah Kernochan and Gregg. Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford, Diana Scarwid. Running time: 129 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on July 25th, 2000.

By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN

When I went to see "The Sixth Sense" for the first time last year, I was dismayed by how much of the first two-thirds of the film was spoiled by the trailer. The movie was obviously constructed with the assumption that the viewer was unaware Haley Joel Osment's character could see dead people. Otherwise, the entire opening act constituted a thinly-veiled exercise in misdirection, and I have more respect for the picture than to believe that. In the end, although I was very much entertained "The Sixth Sense", I was left wondering how much more enthralled I would have been had so much not been revealed to me in the promotional material.

A year later, and wouldn't you know that history has repeated itself. This time, the offending party is the preview for "What Lies Beneath", the new thriller starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, and directed by Robert Zemeckis ("Back To The Future", "Forrest Gump"). As poorly-conceived as the trailer for "The Sixth Sense" was, its "What Lies Beneath" counterpart is infinitely more risible. In this day and age of inspired, creative marketing strategies like the "Blair Witch Project" website and the "X-Men" political campaign, it amazes me that we are still forced to endure such hamfisted efforts as this one.

However, I refuse to review "What Lies Beneath" on the basis of its trailer alone (although I am rather appalled that Zemeckis has actually condoned it because, essentially, he doesn't think people will see his movie without knowing the plot beforehand). It is true to say that my enjoyment of the film was hampered because I had too much foreknowledge of the events. But I will make every effort to set this aside, and review "What Lies Beneath" on its own merits.

As the film opens, Norman Spencer (Ford) and his wife Claire (Pfeiffer) are seeing their daughter off to college, leaving just the two of them alone in their old lakeside Vermont cottage. Spencer is a genetics professor who sometimes seems married more to his work than to his wife. As a result, Claire is often left alone in the house. When neighbour Warren Feur's wife Mary (Miranda Otto) goes missing after an argument, strange things start happening. Doors open by themselves, electronics misbehave, and Claire thinks she sees a face in the water. She becomes convinced that Warren (James Remar) has murdered his wife, and that she is now being haunted by Mary's ghost. Norman, however, thinks his wife is going insane.

With "What Lies Beneath", Zemeckis is clearly trying to evoke Hitchcock. Most obviously, the entire subplot about the Feurs is a lift right out of my own all-time favourite movie, "Rear Window", as Claire spies on the neighbours through binoculars and finds disturbing but circumstantial evidence of foul play. But here is one way the trailer helps to undermine the picture (and if you haven't seen it, skip to the next paragraph now). We know that the ghost isn't Mary Feur, so the entire sequence -- which occupies most of the first half of the movie -- feels exactly like the elaborate red herring that it is. As a result, I found myself impatiently wanting the movie to just get on with it.

Zemeckis does successfully create a creepy atmosphere; there are plenty of scares in "What Lies Beneath", and some of the effects (the face in the water, a message in the condensation on a bathroom mirror) are understated but work very well. The movie is cheapened, though, by the use of several thriller cliches -- the sudden appearance of a family pet, the best friend with coincidental occult inclinations, the killer who just won't die. Most notably, Zemeckis badly overuses the device of having a character suddenly appear in the frame. This was effective the first few times, but it got rather silly when I lost track of the number of times it occurred.

Helping to foster the sinister atmosphere is a fine performance by Pfeiffer, whose character is vulnerable and confused, but not weak. She remains a captivating actor, able to communicate more with her eyes than many performers can with their whole body. Pfeiffer is particularly good in scenes where she becomes possessed by the ghost, seemlessly assuming an persona without exaggerating the change.

Ford starts off weakly, mumbling his way through the early scenes, but finds his stride in the latter half. It is good to see the actor return to roles with a bit of an edge to them, unlike the straight-laced, do-no-wrong heroes he has portrayed for much of the past decade in films like "Patriot Games" and "Air Force One". Ford was always at his best playing characters with something of an anti-hero bent, like Han Solo or "Blade Runner"'s Deckard, and to an extent, "What Lies Beneath" is reminiscent of that.

"What Lies Beneath" rides a consistent upward curve, as the supernatural events (or are they?) continue and Claire gets closer and closer to uncovering the secret behind the apparitions. Things fall off the rails a bit when the identity of the villain (which, I'll admit, came as a surprise to me) is finally revealed and the film takes a plunge into "Scream"-type slasher fare. Rather extreme measures are taken to demonise the character (like a reference to the villain's attention focussing next on Claire's daughter) which come across as more than a little heavy-handed. But things end well with a spooky, beautifully photographed climax which is carried out with just enough conviction to make it work.

Although it by no means achieves the heights of deep-rooted, psychological terror as, say, "The Blair Witch Project", "What Lies Beneath" is very successful on a more visceral level, and is certainly one of the scarier movies of recent times. It's not the sort of film that will give you nightmares -- the frights are too immediate and short-sighted for that -- but it is a lot of fun all the same.

But oh, that trailer...

Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/WhatLiesBeneath.html

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