Cast:
Ashley Judd as Jessica Shepard
Samuel L. Jackson as John Mills
Andy Garcia as Mike Delmarco
David Strathairn as Dr. Melvin Frank
Russell Wong as Lieutenant Tong
Camryn Manheim as Lisa
Mark Pellegrino as Jimmy Schmidt
Titus Welliver as Dale Becker
D.W. Moffett as Ray Porter
Richard T. Jones as Wilson Jefferson
Leland Orser as Edmund Cutler
James Oliver Bullock as John Flanagan
William Hall as Chip Marshall
Joe Duer as Larry Geber
Jim Hechim as Bob Sherman
Critique:
“Twisted” is so repetitive and ludicrous that by the end of the film you’re not even going to care who the real killer is, you just want it to be over. Directed by veteran Philip Kaufman (Quills) and written by Sarah Thorp, the thriller stars Ashley Judd as newly-promoted homicide detective Jessica Shepard. Shepard starts experiencing blackouts while men she has dated are dropping like flies, leading her partner, Mike Delmarco (Andy Garcia), and police commissioner, John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson) to believe she is the prime suspect.
I’ve always been a big fan of Ashley Judd’s thrillers, such as Kiss the Girls and Double Jeopardy, but this one was a big disappointment. Judd seems to sleep, literally, through the role and there’s just nothing exciting about her performance. Her character lost her parents a long time ago which she deals with now by drinking non-stop (there must have been a wine bottle present in 3/4’s of the film), being a lose-cannon, sleeping with about every guy she meets, and having aggresive behavior towards others. We’re led to believe that not only would the SFPD hire someone like this, they would promote her to detective as well. Granted, she’s got some pull having grown up under the watch of commissioner Mills, but I wouldn’t want this lady investigating anything for me. Honestly, after about the third time she passes out I was ready for the closing credits, it got old real quick.
Samuel L. Jackson is a nice presence among the rest of the actors, who appear not care about their roles at all. He plays an authoritative figure who is also an important part of Shepard’s life. Andy Garcia plays the rather quiet partner who is instantly attracted to Shepard. David Strathairn plays police psychologist Dr. Frank who tries to get to the bottom of her problems in boring scenes that should have been cut. Camryn Manheim also has a small role in the station’s lab. The rest of the cast is utterly forgettable, I saw the film last night and can’t remember most of them.
While the script is very bad – some of the last lines in the film made me cringe – there are some entertaining twists. I’m not going to spoil anything here, but after the killer is revealed you can think back about some clues shown throughout the 97 minutes. The film’s cinematography also looked great and Mark Isham’s score is pretty catchy and haunting.
I would love to say I can recommend Twisted, as I generally enjoy plot twisters, but I can’t here. If you’re in the mood for this genre, I would suggest going out and renting films like The Usual Suspects or Se7en instead.
