The Double Hour (2009)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This taut, splendidly acted and directed thriller knows how to play its audience. You can't help but want Sonia, a chambermaid whose life exhibits some bad karma, to pick lost-soul Guido out of the crowd at speed dating. Finally, something positive seems to go their way. But if so, why am I jumping at the least provocation, and what is making me feel so uneasy? Of course, it's a good kind of uneasy.It's first-rate suspense. Every little detail seems to count, coming back later in the form of an I- get-it-now moment. I don't know who their competitors were, but Filippo Timi and Kseniya Rappoport earned their best acting awards at the Venice Film Festival, as did the director Giuseppe Capotondi. Did they miss the deadline for submission into other film competitions? Did they forget to sign the forms? I can't understand why it didn't enter and win more accolades. It could have been an Oscar contender for foreign language film, it is that good.

The Double Hour feels hollow. There are elements involved which if properly connected, could lead to a well constructed film, but they aren't. I do not want to give too much of the plot away because a certain level of secrecy is necessary to enjoy it instead of waiting for pre-planned twists. After seeing this film, I read the reviews of particular critics and most of them kept the secrets, that is, except for Stephen Holden of the New York Times. If you read his review before seeing The Double Hour, there would be absolutely no need to sit through it because he gives the entire thing away; the jig is up.Sonia is a hotel chambermaid in Turin, Italy. She is routinely morose, most likely from something in her past and the fact that she is strikingly lonely. To help her find a friend or more, she tries speed dating and is strikes up a friendship with Guido, an ex-cop who is still trying to define his widower status three years after the fact. Sonia and Guido take baby steps towards the semblance of a relationship until their lives are drastically altered during a robbery. This is where my plot description stops. Revealing too much of a film noir thriller does nothing for the eventual audience except take away their guessing games during the film.The couple's relationship and their back and forth interactions are surprisingly effective. Both actors playing Sonia and Guido received best acting honors at the Venice Film Festival, but the somewhat non-congruous film and choppy supernatural elements do not match their acting standard. The director and screenwriters show a lot of future promise, but the Double Hour just misses the mark. To explain the title, a double hour is particular time of day when the clock matches, such as 12:12. It is said that wishes sometime come true at a double hour.

Fans of Alfred Hitchcock and followers of the more recent "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" series, would likely be pleased with this nail-biting psychological thriller from Italy, which delivers many unexpected twists during its 96 minutes of running time.If suspense isn't your cup of tea but you enjoy art films with non-linear and unpredictable plots, you'll probably end up drinking the whole pot of this satisfying brainteaser from newcomer director Giuseppe Capotondi."The Double Hour" is actually a love story between a lonely immigrant, Sonia (a chambermaid at a high-end hotel in Turin) and the also lonesome Guido, an ex-cop working as a security guard at an art dealer's estate. The two meet at a speed-dating event and just as they are beginning to fall in love, a crime happens, and their relationship is cut short.But before that, during their first date, Guido looks at his watch, which marks 23:23, and he tells Sonia that it's a double hour and that she should make a wish. This detail early on, serves as a metaphor for the double life of the characters and the double storyline of the film you are about to embark on. And it's details such as this one that you need to pay attention to, because every one of them is important to decipher this riveting puzzler that won't let you get too comfortable in your seat.Acted to perfection by Ksenia Rappoport and Filippo Timi "The Double Hour" is making its way quietly now through art-house theaters in the United States. Don't miss it!

Now I don't watch too many Italian movies, especially not on a tuesday evening in a commercial theater. And that's obviously a giant shame, because sometimes there's a foreign flick that stands out and is definitely worth your free time.La doppia ora (The double hour) contains the story of Sonia, a lonely woman looking for love in a devious speeddating bar. She actually does meet the interesting but remote Guido and the two strangers become two lovebirds. When Guido takes her up to his house in the forest to show her his work as a security agent, the house he's watching gets mugged. Both he and Sofia get shot and from then on strange things start to happen. In Sofia's surroundings people are committing suidice by the dozen and she starts to lose her mind. Guido, the only she trusts, is dead, or isn't he? La doppia ora is a smart, psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat for 95 minutes. The camera angles in the scenes are just a little bit different than normal and the overall sounds are well applied. The acting is good and very natural. This all together makes La doppia ora a terrific foreign flick. I'm excited to see more of award winning director Giuseppe Capotondi. Italy scores!