Homecoming (2009) Reviews

• Wait, Wait... You Say You've Seen This Before?

  gavin69422009-07-31

  IMDb plot says: A jilted ex-girlfriend has a plan in store for her former beau, who is coming back to his small town with a new lover. Gavin says: This is true, if we say he's coming back for one weekend and that her plan is only developed on accident, not ahead of time. I had a difficult time with "Homecoming". The film is not anything particularly new. Many have compared it to "Misery", and you can see a connection in just about any kidnapping film. So, if you're looking for a whole new plot, you won't find it. You will probably just end up wondering why the kidnapper (Shelby) doesn't kill the girlfriend right away. I mean, if she wants to get back with her ex, it doesn't really help to have his current love tied up in the bedroom. But the difficult time for me wasn't because it was bad -- in fact, the suspense was so well crafted, I kept myself up well past a sensible bed time to catch the end. Mischa Barton does a fine job as Shelby. Her personal problems aside, Barton is a decent actress. Most people probably know her from "The OC", but since I never saw that show, I know her from a little film called "Walled In" (which, I suppose, was not as good as "Homecoming"). The other actors are also good, but I've already forgotten their names. Director Morgan J. Freeman (no relation) has an interesting vision. The film is bland in its cinematography, its angles, its use of music, its pace... there's really nothing exciting here. There's the suspense, as I said, and a little bit of gore. But the film doesn't shine as bright as Freeman's "American Psycho 2" (which I loved, I don't care what you say). For the first twenty or so minutes, I thought my boss had sent me a drama to review, and I was somewhat bitter about it. But yes, the film is decent, and better than many of the films you'll find on the video shelf. I think two other films I caught recently, "Nature's Grave" and "Sick Girl", would be better choices for the horror fans, but if you want a light thriller, this might meet your needs. By no means will it go down as a classic or even all that memorable, but it's worth a view.

• Fatal Attraction with Misery

  claudio_carvalho2010-03-04

  The successful football player Michael "Mike" Kelvin Donaldson (Matt Long) and his girlfriend Elizabeth Mitchum (Jessica Stroup) leave college to travel to his hometown Mt. Bliss, Pennsylvania, to a ceremony of retirement his high-school jersey and to introduce Elizabeth to his conservative family. They meet Mike's former girlfriend Shelby Mercer (Mischa Barton), who still has a crush on him, in her bowl Alley and her first reaction is to treat Mike as if he were her boyfriend. When she understands the situation, she surprisingly offers a drink to Elizabeth and has a long chat with her. Elizabeth feels wasted and asks Mike and his cousin Billy Fletcher (Michael Landes) to leave her in the Fort Pitt Motel to spend the night and meet his parents sober to give a good impression in their first encounter. However, there is no vacancy in the place and she decides to walk four miles on the road to a Holyday Inn. Meanwhile Shelby is driving on the same road completely disturbed and accidentally hits Elizabeth; however, instead of taking her to the hospital, she abducts Elizabeth and brings her home. The deranged Shelby plots a scheme simulating that Elizabeth left town to be close to Mike and seduce him again. "Homecoming" is one of those films that is a collection of clichés, with unreasonable and predictable attitudes, and uses the idea of other movies in the story. Actually it is a combination of "Fatal Attraction", with a woman obsessed for a man that loves another woman, and "Misery", with a woman rescuing an injured person and taking her to her remote house. The plot is not totally bad, with the exception of the deceptive conclusion, with the insane Shelby killing Billy but keeping her rival Elizabeth alive. Further, Mischa Barton and Jessica Stroup are talented and extremely gorgeous actresses; therefore it is very pleasant to see them on the screen. This DVD has been recently released by Paris Filmes Distributor in Brazil. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Mente Obsessiva" ("Obsessive Mind")

• Like Fatal attraction but with a hostage.

  Greenzombidog2010-10-09

  The star quarterback returns to his hometown for the winter break with his new girlfriend. The problem is his old girlfriend ( Mischa Barton ) seems to have forgotten they split up. The ex claims everything's fine and even befriends the new girlfriend but after accidentally running the new girl down on the road and seriously injuring her things go bad. I was very impressed with the acting in this movie especially Mischa Barton to my surprise. She does a good line in menacing glares and some pretty creepy looks and as you find out just how deep her obsession goes with her ex boyfriend her acting helps to make the character believable. I love these bunny boiler movies and while this doesn't bring to many new ideas to the table, it is still a strong entry in this sub-genre of thriller. There are enough edge of the seat moments when you're willing the characters on and the tension is building to make this film a worthwhile watch. I enjoyed this movie.

• Waste of time

  non-shill2010-01-21

  This film is not really even worth a review, so I'll make it quick. The movie starts as a total snoozefest. A slow start, boring script, boring dialogue. We're supposed to believe that Long's and Barton's characters were an item in the recent past. This despite the fact that Long appears to be around 19 years old, while Barton looks to be 6-8 years his senior (which, in real life, she is). Yet we are shown a photo with them frolicking around in high school clothes, with Barton a cheerleader. Wow. Then the clichés start in earnest. Stroup's character is being held hostage, and makes multiple feeble and idiotic non-attempts at escape. No, don't use the front window to ensure that the psycho who is holding you prisoner is actually gone before you try getting away or using the phone to call for help; just wait for her to go downstairs, and hope for the best. There is even the obligatory scene with an outsider who could help... He's right outside, help at last! Yet all Stroup can manage is to feebly tap on the window. No, don't smash it with that big metal rod in your hand and then scream; just stand there like an idiot. That's as far as I made it with this joke of a movie. I can't believe Freeman put his name on this garbage.

• it's nothing new and surprising, but it's still a really good movie

  atinder2009-12-13

  I will start with the plot. Mike was the star quarterback in a blue-collar small town where football is everything. After receiving a scholarship to Northwestern University, he returns home over Christmas break and everyone is surprised to see him with a new girlfriend, Elizabeth, a pretty rich girl from Chicago. No one is more shocked than Mike's homecoming queen ex-girlfriend, Shelby, who desperately wants Elizabeth out of the picture. After a freak car accident leaves an injured Elizabeth at the mercy of Shelby, all hell breaks loose as Shelby does everything it takes to get Mike back. A Nice build to the main characters, As we get to know characters and you will care for the characters (Well I did) After the good build up to the characters then the movie really gets going and I was total hooked. I was actually shouting at the movie, I don't remember the last time I shouted at A movie, thats how much I really enjoyed watching this movie. This movie has some really good scenes and one nasty scene, (some will think it a total ripoff Misery). This scene made me look away. The acting was great from Main 3, but office Billy Fletcher (You may know as officer Burke from Final Destination 2) his acting was not that good (and is character was pain in the a*s) also the ending, they tried to go for a shocking ending but it didn't work and it just fell flat. Also Shelby is one hell of an Evil Bitch (Mischa Barton she did outstanding job on this movie). She was great. This movie will be compared to Mirsey as this could easily be passed as a sequel or even a remake of it. 6/10