Trust (2010)
Summary
Genre: Drama, SuspenseGoodies:
+ Social commentary, + Interesting familial and character dynamicsBaddies:
- General plot flaws that the producers overlooked (glaring), - Frustrating character decisions made along the way, - Plays a bit like a lifetime movieA teenage girl is targeted by an online sexual predator.
I will start off by saying, i’m a sucker for internet related films. I won’t compare this too closely to Hard Candy, but I would be mistaken not to bring up some of the characteristics (and if you liked HC, you may like this film). This film plays a lot differently, but as there are not a plethora of internet related suspense films, duly note. Because I enjoyed the film, I want to get a few erroneous things out of the way as they were haunting my while watching the film.
1. Dad says the new MBP has 400 (or 4, but I give the benefit of the doubt on this one) GB , which is just not standard.
2. Dad gives daughter new phone, when he could have gotten a new number without a new phone….makes no sense.
3. They driveled VPN as “ghosting programs”, and explained it kind of incorrectly.
PHEW, now that that is out of the way we can proceed. I just think a film about computing and networking should double check things like how someone gets a new phone number — it’s not even technical knowledge. Anywho, Trust plays out in the space between an actual suspense thriller and a Lifetime movie. I don’t say that dismissively, but there was a quality of the film that had those inklings. Luckily, it did keep itself afloat with some actual depth. What I liked most about Trust was the ability to really speak at very deep yet macro levels. For example, Clive Owen’s character realizes that his career (advertising tween clothing) is part of the social problems that promotes the teen sex appeal (though not a reason), and then we get the very deep and personal connections between a girl with Stockholm Syndrome and the process of moving through this and how these events affect the family members. There are other films that show family perspective, and I think it was probably the acting of Clive Owen and Catherine Keener that really facilitates how these situations hurt everyone in the family (and how it differs) – it reminded me a bit of Rabbit Hole in that sense (although nowhere near as emotionally introspective). The film obviously deals with the internet and how it can be used as a tool of exploitation (and at times felt a bit preachy), which has been done before, but ironically (based on the trailer, and description), the film moves past the “internet is bad” theme. The one thing I was disenchanted by (and this may be spoilers), is the transition from “i’m in love with Charlie” to “I was raped by Charlie” is both almost instant, and unbelievable. The movie pivots completely as if it wasn’t sure which it wanted to do, so it did both, but projects the second scenario late in the game, and kind of awkwardly (and the setup for the ending was a bit shallow because of this). Overall, though, I really enjoyed trust. It made me feel uncomfortable and had me emotionally invested, and if a movie makes you feel something, I think it is successful to a certain degree. Good job David Schwimmer.
