One of films seductive in profound sense. first - for the manner to reflect and use a sensitive subject. second - for performances. not the last - for the message. a film about secret powers. and about the truth. and honesty to yourself. not easy. far to be comfortable. because it gives realistic portrait of limits. and fears. in the wise way.

I knew one or two of the actors in this film, from the looks of it, it was going to be either be a scary film or a thrilling film, I was certainly on the right lines, directed by Rodrigo Cortés (Buried). Basically university academic Dr. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and her partner Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy), a psychic, are the world's foremost investigators of paranormal phenomena, as professional sceptics they have exposed dozens of fake and fraudulent mind readers, ghost hunters, faith healers and psychic, by detecting what Matheson calls "red lights", subtle clues to the trickery behind each of these supernatural occurrences. But when charismatic legendary blind psychic, spoon-bender and mind reader Simon Silver (Robert De Niro) comes out of retirement after thirty years, the once fearless Matheson, his adversary, warns Buckley to stay away, she considers Silver too dangerous, as she suspects he was involved three decades earlier in the mysterious death of his most boisterous critic. Howver Buckley remains determined to smear the highly popular and seemingly genuine Silver, believing that doing so will cement his reputation and guarantee Matheson's funding and research for many years, Buckley becomes obsessed with his mission, and enlists the help of student Sally Owen (Elizabeth Olsen, Mary-Kate and Ashley's sister). Together Buckley and Sally employ a dazzling array of high-tech tools to uncover the secrets of Silver's abilities, but the closer they get, the more menacing Silver becomes, and following the unexpected death of Matheson Buckley questions his core beliefs. I think that's what goes on anyway, I lost track. Also starring Toby Jones as Paul Shackleton, Joely Richardson as Monica Hansen, Leonardo Sbaraglia as Leonard Palladino and Craig Roberts as Ben. This film may have a murky feel throughout, and in places you question what's real and what's not, but the talents of De Niro, Weaver and Murphy are wasted, the structure is uneven, predictable creepy things happen, and it becomes too complicated and preposterous to understand, I got bored trying to get it, and the twist conclusion falls flat, a pretty terrible thriller. Adequate!

A movie about paranormal activity with some big names attached to it should be on paper pretty decent. Guess what: it isn't. Weaver (no clue why she agreed to do it) plays a mentor to Murphy's character. They form a team that debunks paranormal phenomenon. The story tries to be clever but it feels utterly aimless and there are plenty of scenes that don't seem to serve any function. The editing is also a bit chaotic and messy and the film does take a long time to go to a certain resolution/point that ultimately feels like a letdown. This one can also be added to the long list of films in which De Niro serves as a big name to be added to the poster but where you actually wish they choose someone else because here he goes completely of the rails and comes off as an amateur who has no clue how to portray a convincing character. So not completely awful but also not recommended!

I have always been interested in movies about psychics and other abilities. This movie doesn't really do anything groundbreaking with regard to these subjects. But it does manage to entertain to some extent. One of the strong points about this movie is the presence of talented actors like Robert de niro, Cilian murphy and Sigourney weaver. Robert de niro does impress and gives a creepy performance as the enigmatic Silver. Towards the end, there are some hammy scenes which appear jarring. Cilian murphy has done a good job and he is the central character of the movie. The last part of the movie is quite disappointing. The melodramatic scenes, the predictable twists, the hammy acting were all quite irritating. The twist doesn't make much sense since we can actually guess that Silver does have some abilities, at least in the earlier years. It is just far too difficult for him to pull it off. There are too many things which remain unresolved for me to take the twist seriously. Even then the twist is still predictable because of all the foreshadowing throughout the movie. I still give it a 5 because of some good performances and the fact that it didn't put me to sleep.