Riddle (2013)

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

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.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Started off really, really well - I was hooked and even had to pause it whilst I went away for a weewee and quick cuppa tea. >;o)I came back and then it just descended into trash. I wont even try to descibe the rest other than that I havent a clue how to.Poor old Val Kilmer has hit the bargain basement bucket along with Ron Perlman, Lance Henriksen, John Cusack, Christian Slater and sadly Nicolaus Cage.My question is really where did the $7,000,000 that it cost to make this tragedy go - I surmise Val Kilmers pocket!Do your self a favour and bypass this one its an hour and half wasted.

While the movie starts off pretty moody (a good thing), it does turn pretty quickly and becomes pretty ugly. Side stories that seem not to matter, characters getting disposed off and a general weird feeling make this an almost uncomfortable watch. I do like Diora Baird a lot, not only because of her looks, but neither she nor the other leading female can save this film.Val Kilmer does his thing, which means almost nothing at all. It's not the pounds he has layered upon on his body, but the fact, that it seems, he forgot how to act. Is this really the same man, that gave a phenomenal performance as Doc in Tombstone? It's hard to believe, again not only because he doesn't look like that guy anymore. But the teenage boys playing their parts in here are as bad. So many flaws in this one, I wouldn't really know where to stop. It does look good though (photography that is).

When I first read the rather daunting reviews here, I was a little iffy about watching it, but I decided to take the plunge. What I discovered was a little gem--an atmospherically dark, moody, journey that builds in suspense to a rather thrilling climax.I think the pace was good though perhaps just a wee bit too slow for some. Coming off of another film where the action sequences hit you virtually non-stop roller-coaster fashion, it might even seem sluggish, but to me this was more than offset by the visually attractive elements of the film, some great camera work, and some very worthy acting.Some have stated that they found the story-line vague, but I didn't at all--if you follow the dialog, it is obvious what is happening, and the end is rather thrilling. I would have preferred that the character of the "disheveled man" (read 'Mad Doctor' and also *secret* someone else in the film) had been better developed, but it seems the writers wanted our lack of knowledge about him through the body of the film to be held as more of a surprise--a part that was both eerily and excellently portrayed by Jack Erdie.I've always enjoyed Bill Sadler's work--he's another Scotty Glenn in that he's such a flexible, utilitarian actor--though his cameo here was too short.I think it's now in vogue for people to dis Val Kilmer--he's getting older and fatter--but he lends his weight (seriously--no pun intended) to his part and is at least credible (as always). My only wince during the film was when, after a burst of threatening anger, he suddenly, calmly, admonishes his daughter and her friends for being together, warns them not to do it again, then drives off business-as-usual, when any other Sheriff/father would have been far more aggressive and not so instantly calmed.The big surprise for me was the excellent work by virtually all the supporting actors--character development was as good as their screen-time allowed, but the actors had both depth and presence in every scene. I think this one fact really made the movie for me. Perhaps it was, in some cases, the dearth of dialog which, a la Alan Parker/Kubric-style, helps to build suspense and add depth. I think they are all responsible, in working with such a script, for delivering a solid movie experience. I simply cannot find fault in any of the acting--all were on beat throughout.Elisabeth Harnois also gave a credible and professional performance in the lead role--at least as good as other actors with her age and experience--I had no problems at all in believing in her character, or anyone else's in this film. What I thought might be an awkward moment in the scene transition from her brother's disappearance to her crying in the parking lot explained itself away when we recognize her dilemma--'what should she do next'? I think the directors were on queue and were consistent and seemed intent on getting as much from a scene as budget allowed, yet there were no long, wasteful scenes or gratuitous landscape pans often seen in other films of this budget range to 'not waste the camera rental fee'--every scene seemed to transition well, and at an apparent purposefully suspenseful pace. The backdrops in Riddle were fabulously 'decaying middle America' and I found myself wanting to see lots more of them in play.Lastly, I must say that the film score, while apparently purposefully unobtrusive, was too much so. Many scenes seemed wanting for music that just wasn't there at all. My bailiwick, a better, more sinister-sounding, more energetic and engrossing score would have added so much more depth to the slow-beat pacing of the dialog and many of the scenes.While many film goers (and reviewers) seem to have embraced a more black & white style of critique of the movies they see (it's either a 'Taxi Driver' or a 'Plan 9'), there is a universe of film in between--and much of it is worthy. Riddle is certainly up there in both effort and craftsmanship, and I hope the cast and crew, the producers, directors and writers, will bring us more and better in the future.I rate this film as a 7--a good, solid, entertaining movie..

First of all the plot is totally unbelievable by 1/3 of the way through. The plot is very shallow especially with back story and character development. It is very hard to have any sympathy with the undeveloped vapid characters. The acting was very jilted and contrived, especially the role of Val Kilmer. It was as if Val was forced to do a movie for some reason and gave his bare minimum. I think in this 21st century the idea of the helpless unresourceful female character is outdated. In fact the reactions of all four characters who are hunting for the whereabouts of the missing brother is so overdone in hundreds of "horror" movies before that it is an offensive to the viewer. They follow the very typical method of operation that so many horror, slasher, teenage movie flicks follow. separate and get picked off one by one. then when confronting the bad guy in the movie one of the male characters makes all the wrong mistakes that we come to expect and as easily predicted he dies. What a big shocker there. And the obvious blaring misconception is the cover on the video, a giant question mark with an MC Escher like illustration. At no time did this theme in anyway relate to the film. What could have been a mind bending psychological thriller turned out to be worse than some film student's senior project. I did give it one star because there was a happy ending and one cannot turn down a happy ending.