FILM REVIEW:
So I just saw the movie Orphan. The film has a talented cast, led by Vera Farmiga (Nothing But the Truth, The Departed), and Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead, Flightplan), as well as newcomer Isabelle Fuhrman as the title "orphan" Esther.
Haunted by the memories of a still birth, a couple with two children decide to add a third. When "kid-shopping", the parents meet Esther. She is charming, old-fashioned, and mature beyond her years. She is perfect.
The couple takes in the nine year-old Esther and the family is happy....for about two minutes. Things begin to happen that trigger worries in the mother, but due to a substance abuse problem in her past, nobody wants to believe her. Instead, Esther is free to wreak havoc amongst the neighborhood.
I don't want to spoil anything, so I will stop with the synopsis there. Let me just say that the girl who plays the orphan Esther can expect to have zero friends in her childhood. She gives a brilliant demonic performance that is arguably award-worthy. That just won't help her in the friend-making department.
The movie is an effective thriller, despite its moments of sheer stupidity, most coming in the last fifteen minutes. One has to ask the question though - did this movie need to be made? Every year, there are a handful of movies that get people all up in arms, and usually I discount their protests as silly and unwarranted (although I will defend their right to protest.). This time though, I can understand why the adoption groups are angry with the film. The groups say the movie casts a negative light on adopting an older child, and they are totally correct. One could argue that a family swayed by a movie on whether or not they should adopt should not have been adopting in the first place, and I might agree. The twist in the movie is so dang creepy though, it could get people thinking, and that's not healthy. That being said, as a movie, and a movie alone, I would give this *** out of ****. If the ending (not the twist) hadn't been so silly, I would have thought this to be one of the most effective thrillers in years.
Since I have been in a house with adoptive and foster kids, I know how it really is. Now don't get me wrong this is a huge stretch about the way it will be if someone adopts (and if some one would watch a MOVIE and take it as reality I would worry about their ability to determine fact from fiction) but it's not always a walk in the park. You have to remember not all adoptions are from orphans and those that aren't are probably subject to somesort of abuse or neglect and therefore carry baggage. But even if they haven't been subjected to that they still have to deal with some separation anxiety from their mother, even if they never knew them, which can be easily overcome sometimes but not always. But I would never tell anyone not to adopt just to make sure to enter into it with much prayer and preparation.
ReplyDeleteI lol'd when i read your post. Your review is so funny for some reason. I've been wanting to watch Orphan for the longest time so I hope it's good. The trailer kinda gets me sad because it really does sound like something that would cast a negative light on adoption agencies. But it still doesn't make me not want to watch the movie :)
ReplyDeletebtw your comments to your entries are all long and meaningful! i'm afraid to post because mine sound the opposite of everybody else's! haha
I saw this movie and i totally agree about the twist at the end. Pretty good movie until the end though.
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