The two perspectives are unsettling, because through Lea's eyes he's an energetic and only slightly shady nice guy; but we know that, unseen to her and us, he's a vicious madman. Eventually we do see his violence (when there are other witnesses), but this restraint might be the film's weakest aspect, because we're never convinced he's much more than a badly confused young man. Key events are vague or simply missing altogether, leaving the film unfocussed and confusing. We like him more than we should (shades of Chopper here, and first-timer Cassetti is excellent) and, while it's clever in a point-of-view sort of way, the sunny, breezy side is never fully redefined by the dark horror waiting to erupt at the end.

strong themes and violence, language

25.Oct.01