the Mind’s Chew Toy

Synopsis:

A vacationing family gets an unexpected visit from two deeply disturbed young men. Their idyllic holiday turns nightmarish as they are subjected to unimaginable terrors and struggle to stay alive. A remake of the 1997 film of the same name.

Our Thoughts:

Sick and disturbing. Those look to be the words that sum up Funny Games, the new thriller starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth.

While Roth has been a favorite of ours thanks to his role in the now classic Reservoir Dogs, Naomi Watts has only recently caught our attention, after appearing in the big budget Peter Jackson remake King Kong. These two can definitely come together to carry a movie - but is this film going to be worth it?

Supposedly a social commentary on how the viewing public has become desensitized to violence on TV and film, Funny Games looks to be the film that Hostel (2006) tried - and failed miserably - to be. Full of sadistic scenes aimed at giving the viewer a queasy “I shouldn’t be watching this” feeling, this film will probably attract the same crowds that flocked to Hostel (2006) and it’s throwaway sequel, Hostel - Part II (2007).

Then again, maybe Funny Games is just putting on airs to try to draw in a crowd. Sillier things have been tried (”Size Matters” was the Godzilla (1998) tagline, if you recall). Maybe the filmmakers are just trying to separate their horror thriller from the pack - while at the same time heading off the anti-violence protests by claiming the film has a deeper message, rather than just another gore-deluged flick.

If there is any truth to the idea that this film is actually a commentary on a violence-desensitized society, this will probably be overlooked by the people who actually see this film in theaters. More than likely, any such societal criticism may only hit home once Funny Games hits DVD.

I plan to count myself as one of those future DVD viewers. While I’m interested to see what Naomi and Tim can do with this, I’m not interested enough to shell out the big bucks for what probably will be just another twisted horror flick.