Funny Games

Isolation...it's one of our greatest fears. That and death which proves why "Funny Games" is so genuinely disturbing. It offsets our senses, toys with our imagination, and worst of all, it continues to do so for nearly two hours.

Since the success of "Vacancy" and many other subjectively similar films before that, studios have been quick to greenlight their own identical concepts, which surprisingly, have been accepted quite weel by audiences. It's obviously not due to originality as many pictures have presented this particular scenario countless times before, but it's more because of the realism. People like to be scared and when a filmmaker can accomplish this goal, they stand superior against the other endless number that fail to come even remotely close.

Always bringing a great performance to the screen is the beautiful Naomi Watts. She's a dedicated soul who pours her life into each of her characters, molding them into likeable human beings that we'd hate to see anything aweful happen to. Tim Roth is on the other side of the screen. He's always dynamic with his acting and loves to show it. Playing a family man isn't a difficult task in itself, but playing the father of a family being threatened, now that takes some preparation.

The film's style is unique. One particular scene involves a brutal slaying of a character by a shotgun, however, after finding the remote control, another character is able to rewind to a previous scene so that the film is displayed from a different angle. Some will be upset by the technique, however, others will appreciate the creativity behind it. Going further into the film's uniqueness, "Funny Games" breaks every rule that has been established in the genre over the years. I won't spoil any juicy details for you, but I will say your heart will be throbbing come the final moments.

I enjoyed "Funny Games". Though undeniably similar to many recent releases within the genre, the makers are creative in that they apply just the right amount of humor into a deeply disturbing story-line. This is not a comedy by any means, however, you can't help but laugh at the film's antagonists in their courtesy as they pick apart the dignity of their victims. This is a must see!