No question about it: “Trespass” is not very good, and discerning moviegoers should look elsewhere for more elevated distraction.
Having said that, it shames me to say that I enjoyed this trashy movie, which plunks a couple of watchable movie stars in the midst of an overheated suspense yarn.
Need I add that “Trespass” is directed by Joel Schumacher, the man behind the “Phantom of the Opera” movie and the “Batman & Robin” travesty?
The movie traps a super-wealthy couple, played by Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman, as they fall under attack by a band of intruders at their isolated estate. The couple has a teenage daughter wandering in and out of the house, which complicates things.
More complications come from the intruders, who are a neurotic bunch. Their leader (Ben Mendelsohn) is improvising his way through the situation because things are unraveling; his younger brother (Cam Gigandet) is a volatile head case who has a crush on Kidman.
If you saw “Animal Planet” last year, you’ll remember Mendelsohn, probably in your nightmares. He all but steals this movie, too, combining both brutality and weakness in his deft performance.
Kidman brings her customary intensity, which is pretty much all that’s called for from the role.
Cage plays a smooth-talking (yet utterly desperate) diamond salesman, and his ability to negotiate is required after his family is taken at gunpoint. One of the film’s running bits is the way Cage keeps trying to talk his tormentors out of shooting him, which they threaten to do at first because they want to find out where the diamonds are hidden, and later because they just get annoyed with the guy.
Audiences will be similarly annoyed, which is an interesting wrinkle. The film would’ve been an easier sell with a sympathetic hero, but Cage’s character never stops being a crass, money-obsessed yuppie, or whatever you call a yuppie who’s already made a fortune.
Cage over-acts the role; he indulges in his zany vocal tricks, and the movie would’ve been more effective if he’d played it straight. On the other hand, maybe straight isn’t the way to go with this kind of material.
Schumacher is busy whipping up a frenzy, never letting the momentum flag and taking each improbable plot twist in full stride. When somebody starts talking about harvesting human kidneys, all you can do is shrug and wonder what the movie’s going to come up with next.
So, yes, it’s preposterous and heavy-handed. But I like the B-movie energy that “Trespass” delivers, however embarrassed I might be to admit it.
“Trespass” (2½ stars)
Overheated and full of improbable twists, this movie nevertheless whips up a certain B-movie energy that puts it in the guilty pleasure category. Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman play a wealthy couple held at gunpoint by a disorganized band of intruders; Joel Schumacher provides the heavy-handed direction.
Rated: R for violence, language.
Showing: Oak Tree.
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