The Letter (2012)

The Letter: Directed by Jay Anania. With Winona Ryder, Josh Hamilton, Marin Ireland, Katherine Waterston. A playwright who begins to mentally unravel cannot decide if she is at the center of a manipulative plot or simply losing her grip on reality.

“If you saw the trailer and thought it was interesting then donu0026#39;t bother; youu0026#39;ll hate this film. I mean it. Donu0026#39;t even think about watching.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf, on the other hand, you saw the trailer and thought u0026quot;oh great, another forgettable thriller about a creepy guy and clueless chick. When will anyone try anything new for chrissake??u0026quot; then hold your horses because this movie might be just for you.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Letteru0026quot; marks the 2nd pairing of the phenomenal acting/directing team of James Franco and his professor Jay Anania (the first being the excellent film u0026quot;Vincentu0026quot; aka u0026quot;Shadows u0026amp; Liesu0026quot;). This time Winona Ryder joins the group and adds her own perfect eccentricity to the mix. Ryder plays the part of u0026quot;Martineu0026quot; a playwright who is putting on a production with 5 actors including a shadowy newcomer u0026quot;Tyroneu0026quot; (Franco).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs the play progresses, reality begins to wrap itself around imagination and vice versa. Some have compared this to other recent mindbenders like u0026quot;Black Swanu0026quot; and u0026quot;Mementou0026quot;, but I would say this film outshines them all due to Ananiau0026#39;s fierce, stylistic approach which really gets into your head. There arenu0026#39;t really any shocks, thrills, chills, gore or other cheapshots to make you spill your popcorn. Instead, itu0026#39;s a very insidious, unsettling visual approach, as well as disjoint audio, that draws you into the mounting tension and confusion of Martineu0026#39;s mentally unbalanced psyche. No monsters or broken mirror shards required. Thatu0026#39;s one thing to remember about this film: it doesnu0026#39;t stoop to cheap thrills but instead stands by its somber, anti-Hollywood approach.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSomething else to know about this film; it moves at the speed of reality, that is u0026quot;slowlyu0026quot; by movie standards. So if you get bored easily, you might want to look elsewhere. There are scenes of dialogue with actual pauses between people speaking, like in real life, how about that? Sometimes there are periods of silence that might make the audience feel uncomfortable if theyu0026#39;re expecting some sort of rapid fire, scripted tit-for-tat. But if youu0026#39;re prepared for a voyeuristic experience of watching other peopleu0026#39;s lives, this nails it. Donu0026#39;t get me wrong; not a single scene is wasted and thereu0026#39;s no fluff or filler. Itu0026#39;s just that Anania allows the scenes to breathe a little. The pacing is similar to something you might get in from a European director (Kieslowsky, Tarkovsky, maybe Bela Tarr after a few cups of coffee) and the visual poetry is reminiscent of the Japanese masters Kurosawa u0026amp; Teshigahara with a distinct, hip, modern look (extreme saturation, contrast and exposure) as you might see in Aronofsky or Paul Thomas Anderson. The overall package is distinctly Anania.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd how can I end this without a word about Franco. Although his role may strike you as being smaller than youu0026#39;d expect (Winona Ryder is the star), each time he graces the camera itu0026#39;s done with so much poise and confidence you find yourself wondering who would win in a cool-off between Franco u0026amp; Bogart. Hate to admit it, but I think Franco would win by a hair.”