Blind Horizon

source: Blind Horizon

Most of the other reviewers have said it all, I just want to make sure that there are enough comments on here to warn you away from wasting your time with this movie. You won't get the time back! The story is derivative, predictable and silly. The acting is totally flat - which only Val can get away with as he has a head injury, but it does nothing to hold my interest. The direction and screenplay are trying too hard to be arty in the manner that a lot of independent film makers seem to do these days in order to differentiate themselves from "Hollywood", but which only results in giving me a headache. I feel insulted by this technique of skipping around and not providing any interesting dialogue or time sequence. The camera work is good quality, though I don't agree with all of the shots. The characters are unbelievable and you just can't relate to them as real people. The Barbie I played with as a kid had more character and animation. As a side note, Neve's hair is distracting - I can't figure out if it's a bad wig or just a bad idea. 5 of 10...being generous because Val is a hottie.

Someone wrote that it looks like a typical "straight to video" film. And he is absolutely right. The look, the sound, etc. Everything seemed a bit low budget. And I didn't expect a low budget production because of Val Kilmer. So, all in all, I expected this movie to be more hollywood-like, but it was more an independent low budget movie. (4 out of 10)

Well, I missed the first part of the movie and maybe that accounts for why I didn't understand the details of the plot. The general outline is clear enough. Val Kilmer is involved in a plot to assassinate the president and for some reason is shot by the plotters to get him out of the way. Maybe he had doubts about the legality of such a plan. But its detailed explanation, if there was any, escaped me. I could usually tell the bad guys from the good guys, but not always. Things happen that seem to point nowhere and add nothing to the plot. When Kilmer returns to his hotel room for the last time, why is it loaded up with guns of all kinds? The performances aren't bad and the script, as it appears on the page or tumbles out of the actors, is okay but it is so elliptical as to elude comprehension. The nanosecond-long flashbacks -- sometimes in black and white, sometimes not -- are too fragmentary to be of much help. Kilmer is more uncertain and stutters more than usual. Neve Campbell looks good and can dance. Amy Smart is nacreously blond, probably the hottest girl in her high school, stunningly beautiful along flamboyantly Aryan lines, whom all the boys lusted after and wanted to pinch and bite. (The girls on the other hand wouldn't have minded watching her fall head first into a shredder.) The locations are pretty well done. Las Vegas, New Mexico, looks dustier and seedier than it actually is. Still -- here are Kilmer and the mysterious Campbell as his supposed fiancée. They gradually seem to fall for one another and get it on together. When she unexpectedly has her head blown off, Kilmer glances at the body for a moment then eases out the door and Campbell is immediately forgotten. Maybe you should make sure you see the first 15 minutes or so. Then, as Charlie Chan promised, all will be explained.

1. It makes perfect sense not to talk to your fiancee when you just came out of a coma with no memory. What could she possibly know? 2. A sheriff investigating two murders happening within a few days of a man coming out of a coma with no memory won't bother to run even a basic check of the background of said fiancee, who turns out to be an imposter and professional assassin. 3. Another professional assassin will beat you for no reason in a public bathroom. 4. That same pro hitman will then fail to shoot you when you are in his sights to instead shoot the assassin posing as your fiancee. 5. Presidents have almost zero protection, only two men standing by the limousine. 6. You can stand next to the biggest billboard with a sniper rifle and no one will notice. 7. You can shoot the president and no one will try to follow you. Just wear a hat. 8. A pretty young nurse 20 years younger than you will fall in love and offer to spend her life with you on the run. Yeah, the film started off promising. But the last half is a complete mess with lots of holes. I felt cheated, and so will you. How low have the careers of the main actors sunk to appear in this?

"Blind Horizon" directed by Michael Haussman was shown on cable the other night. The cast assembled seemed interesting, so we decided to take a chance with it. There are a lot of ideas behind the plot, which reminded this viewer about the Kennedy assassination in Dallas in 1963, but this story is not fully realized. The problem basically resides with the screen play. It is not too well constructed, as we figure what is coming before it happens. The amnesia plot is something that has been done ad nauseam and adds nothing to this movie. Val Kilmer's character is an enigma from beginning to end. Neve Campbell's Chloe doesn't have anything in common with Frank; no chemistry whatsoever. Also, Faye Dunnaway is shown mumbling her lines most of the time. Amy Smart and Sam Shepard don't have great opportunities to shine.

A man gets shot, wakes up from a coma suffering total memoryloss. He tries to figure out who he is and why he feels that the presidents life is in danger. Oh and trust me, after five minutes you already figured out the so-called twist, but you keep thinking to yourself that it cannot be that simple - well, it is...save yourself the time! The beginning of the film gives it all away. A couple of decent acting performances here, but nothing out of the ordinary - then again, with a script like this....you know... Just another time waster that prooves that the Hollywood money machine won the battle against decent scripts. I'm reluctant to drop Hollywood films entirely, they're more or less all the same - lots of sha-bang, nothing to wear it in.. On a scale from yawn to wow: zzzzz....

Frank (Val Kilmer) is a lonely man with no identity who loses his records and suffers amnesia after being wounded in the desert of New Mexico. He has visions about a truck accident, hit men , explosion and snipers. He's attended in a hospital of a small town by a beautiful nurse (Amy Smart) and a doctor (Gil Bellows). Meanwhile, the town sheriffs (Sam Shepard , Noble Willinghan) are investigating the strange deeds. And there appears a mysterious girl (Neve Campbell) reclaiming to be his fiancée. Events go wrong and he realizes he can be a murderer has been hired to kill the US President . He must find a way to find out the enigma. The enemy is within. The enemy in me. He's lost his identity... next it may be his life. This Neo-noir film packs action, suspense, thrills , shoot-outs and exciting scenes . The main and secondary casting give a first class performance . Kilmer as a hapless without memory is cool , he's the first among equal from extraordinary cast , such as Sam Shepard as an obstinate deputy , Giancarlo Esposito as a stubborn journalist and Faye Dunaway as shifty woman, among others. The film is slickly paced in original manner by means of several flashbacks, puzzles , jigsaw and with a pretentious plot , that's why it results to be a little confusing. It contains thrilling action set pieces as the spectacular gun-play proceeded in a tumultuous square where comes the US President. There's a little homage by paying tribute to the Mexican wrestling genre when the starring enters at a cinema theatre while showing the film titled 'Santo faces death' (1969) directed by Orozco and starred by Santo and Frank Braña . The film is produced in middling budget by Milennium, as usual, producers Avi Lerner, Danny Lerner, Trevor Short and Boaz Davison. The motion picture was professionally directed by Michael Haussman at his film debut and only movie. Although sometimes is dull and boring, the superb cast, relentless intrigue and fascinating thriller make this one well worth seeing.

I'm surprised by the negative reviews here. It's the kind of film worth seeing many times. The fragmentation tactics and the music work really well. Nothing is ever perfectly clear and that's a plus as well. The mystery stays with you. You can't be sure you understand the motives of the people involved in the assassination plot. Like 'The Package' this film does use the JFK assassination as a reference point but it uses it in very small pieces so that you have to think about them as parts of a difficult puzzle. At the same time the mood of the film is strong enough so that you don't get the feel of just a set of puzzles. Looking forward to more good films by the talented people involved.

I could go on about the plot holes and inexplicable missing elements (like main character motivations!), the thin characters with no real opportunity to develop, a musical score that is off base it is almost funny, and finally a director who clearly is out of his element when not doing music videos. Note to the director: Scenes, camera movement, and music are supposed to serve the story not become the story. From reading the comments it looks like the original script had promise (I would say the ideas are interesting and might explain how they were able to attract some name actors) but the leadership of the film obviously did not have any real vision on how to bring all the elements together. An example of a real bad choice would be the constant use of Middle Eastern influenced vocalizations in a movie that is supposed to be set in Southern New Mexico. Now that is not to put down the actual music, as it is really pretty good own it's on. It just seems to me nobody was questioning the direction of the musical choices. For me this is a failure by the director. In every major element of the film; from editing, the character choices made by the actors, the score, and the cinematography it is like they all were trying to do there own thing. No one seemed to be insuring that all the oars were rowing in the same direction.