Premonition DVD Movie Review Commentary and Analysis

Sandra Bullock plays Linda Hanson, a housewife with two beautiful children who although she is not completely aware of it at the beginning of the movie, is living her life stuck in a bit of a rut. She is married to Jim, a successful businessman who works long hours and doesn't get to spend nearly enough time with her and the family... Normal kind of film so far you might think, but the really interesting stuff begins to happen when Linda goes to sleep that night. (The rest of this review contains spoilers so if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want the whole thing completely ruined please stop reading - Come back once you have watched it and discuss it further though!)

Linda awakes to the news that her husband has been killed in a car crash; this hits her with the same intensity and utter disbelief that anyone who has been confronted by the death of a loved one in any way will understand and relate to. Bullock plays these scenes brilliantly, her expressions, the sense of shock and the way the sound falls in and out during the moment the sheriff breaks the news to her is strikingly realistic, as are many of the other key scenes in this film. With her mother having arrived to help her with the kids, Linda goes back to bed once more but when she wakes up she notices that things seem different, hearing noises from downstairs she is confronted by her husband sat watching TV as if nothing has happened, and that is exactly the point. Nothing has happened yet; she has somehow slipped back in time to before the accident.

The problem she now faces is that every time she goes to sleep after this she experiences time lapses between her life before the accident and her life afterwards. The first time you watch this film you may think it has several flaws, inconsistencies in certain shots and things that weren't there before that should have been. That's one of the things I love about this movie, and if you pay attention you'll notice that this has been done deliberately to show that each time Linda lapses backwards and forwards in time she changes details, some are just bigger than others. The key part of the storyline soon comes when we learn that her husband was about to have an affair, this changes the way that Linda is feeling and makes her question how great she thought her life was and if in fact her marriage, or her husband to be more specific really are worth saving! Upon chatting with a clergyman he tells her she needs to make a decision and find something deep within herself, a reason to fight for her husband, a reason to try to change things.

That night she goes home and everything begins to click into place, she remembers the good things about their relationship, and tells him everything that is on her mind, how much she loves him and needs him and how she wants things to be better. They end up making love (That bit is important I promise!) and the next day she sets about trying to change the events that are about to take place, she fights for her husband and gives it everything she's got but her best attempts are in vain, just when she thinks she's succeeded things go drastically wrong (Or maybe right, depending on which way you are looking at things) At this point we skip forward to about 6 months later and as Linda gets up out of her bed the camera zooms in on her stomach, she's pregnant. In my eyes the movie showed how although Linda couldn't change the fact that her husband was about to die, there were things that she did have chance to put right.

The scene where she makes him tell the kids how much he loves them, the fact that she tells Jim she forgives him for his thoughts of an affair and most importantly the fact that before the accident they were able to create a whole new life together, something that would never have happened had events not been altered. The directing in Premonition was fantastic, every shot and camera angle seemed almost flawless. The acting was simply brilliant from both Bullock and McMahon and even the two children did a great job in their roles. I loved the raw and realistic emotion that went into the movie and although it did get a little confusing at times it was most definitely worth it in the end. Quite possibly one of Sandra Bullocks best performances ever in my opinion, and after the disappointment that was ‘Lake House' (Was it just me who felt that movie wasn't anywhere near as good as it should have been?) it certainly seems to have set her right back on track again. Let me know your own thoughts on Premonition, do you agree with the vast majority of critics in thinking that it wasn't great or like me did you find yourself enjoying it? [tags]Premonition DVD Movie Review[/tags]