The Voices

Movie Name: The Voices
Year of Release: 2014
Director: Marjane Satrapi
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Atherton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver, Ella Smith, Paul Chahidi, Stanley Townsend, Adi Shankar, Sam Spruell, Valerie Koch, Gulliver McGrath
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Following the very well received "Persepolis" (which she co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud) and "Chicken with Plums", director Marjane Satrapi tackled a script she did not author, which had been on the Blacklist of the best un-produced scripts. The narrative focuses on the story of Jerry Hickfang, a young man who works at a plumbing fixtures factory. He lives above a bowling alley and has a cat and a dog as companions. They both talk with Jerry frequently, with Bosco the dog being a more supportive voice, while Mr. Whiskers the cat is more akin to a bad influencing one. Jerry also has frequent consultations with a therapist, since he is in fact on probation for a traumatic occurrence in his past, which also forces him to take medication with regularity (and he has been skipping on his medication as well). Jerry develops a romantic interest in Fiona, a co-worker of his, and invites her to a Chinese dinner theater, but she opts to go to karaoke instead with her other co-workers. When her car doesn't start, and as Jerry is on his way home, he volunteers to give her a lift. Shockingly they hit a deer, and Jerry puts the animal out of its misery. Terrified Fiona flees the scene, and while trying to find her and appease her concerns, he accidentally stabs her and eventually kills her. After getting home, Bosco and Mr. Whiskers provide counseling on what to do next, which sends Jerry on a series of increasingly bloody adventures.

"The Voices" has a great premise in the sense that it focuses its attention on a hero dealing with schizophrenia, who while haunted by a traumatic past, is somewhat oblivious to the monstrous things he's currently doing. There's a lot of opportunities for dark humor to pop up, and thanks to the always fantastic Ryan Reynolds, they do make their way through the film, sadly not with the bite they should have. The biggest problem with this film is the fact that the director can't quite settle on the tone it wants to adopt for it: it presents a somewhat stylized look to the reality Jerry views undaunted by his medication, versus a much darker one that surfaces to the surface when the same medication impacts him. However with either of those realities, the director never goes full board in either of them, so ultimately what comes across is a half baked narrative that is never fully whimsical and never fully grotesque (particularly considering the things Jerry is doing). We do progressively come to understand Jerry's motivations and what has driven him on his current path, however the supporting characters for the most part are quite underdeveloped, which also makes for the interactions with Jerry to feel fleeting and undercooked. It's a film that has such untapped potential, which could have gone in so many directions, and with a terrific cast, sadly it falls short of truly showcasing life through Jerry's prism. The cast is solid, with Ryan Reynolds once again bringing a mix of vulnerability, goofiness and shock to a character who is out of place with the world, with great support from Anna Kendrick and Jacki Weaver. The production team is serviceable, but not necessarily memorable. It's a watchable film though not necessarily memorable.