(2005) **1/2
Demi Moore plays popular novelist, Rachel Carlson, who writes books with riveting titles like The Darkening Seas and Dreamers Awake. She’s married to the perfect man and they have the perfect little boy. They live in a large, perfect home and life is, well perfect. Rachel’s terrific life ends in an instant one day when her son drowns due to her carelessness. Following this tragedy her marriage begins to disintegrate and she finds herself with more writer’s block than post 1980s Stephen King. Eight months later her agent finds her the perfect (of course) cottage in a remote part of Scotland. Delighted, Rachel believes that the insular existence this cottage offers will be the panacea for what ails her.
The plan seems to work and soon Rachel meets hunky Angus McCulloch, who resides in the creepy lighthouse across the way. As time passes Rachel finds herself infatuated with Angus, often taking her small boat over to his lighthouse to hang out. This idyllic existence is disturbed one day when she begins seeing her dead son. As if this wasn’t unsettling enough, a local psychic warns her that she is in trouble while the charming villagers begin to resemble the creepy denizens of The Wicker Man. Later when she happens to mention Angus to the locals in a bar dead silence follows and she’s informed that Angus died years earlier following a local tragedy. Is Rachel going nuts? Is her son, who keeps popping up, merely a reflection of unresolved grief? Is the psychic onto something or is she just a nut bag? Why are the townsfolk suddenly giving her the evil eye?
Oh Demi Moore, what the hell happened to your career? After finding success with Ghost, why are you slumming with the far inferior fare like Half Light? Filmed in 2004 and released direct-to-video in 2005, Half Light isn’t as bad as you might believe. In fact, although it borrows heavily from every ghost movie cliché out there, there are a few creepy moments and the “mystery” kept me guessing. The setting is foreboding and atmospheric. The cast isn’t half bad and despite my sarcasm above Moore is an okay actress and it was nice to see her on celluloid again. In the end, however, Half Light ultimately plays like a kit-bashed version of a dozen other better ghost stories.
6 comments:
Is it just me or does Demi look "younger" now than in these pictures? Freaky.
You really need an answer to the question about "what happened" to her career?
Basically, her "career" was based on one thing and one thing only: being married to Bruce Willis. Nobody ever liked her. Ghost made money because of the Bruce Joel Rubin sappiness and the leftover sexually-frustrated-housewife/Romance-novel-reading Dirty Dancing audience that was the entire Swayze fanbase. There was never a Demi Moore movie that opened well based on her (and not, say, Michael Douglas or a bestselling Crichton novel or both).
Once Bruce Willis dumped her ass, suddenly there was no reason to cast her in anything any more and she, like, totally vanished, I'm sure every producer in Burbank went, "What a blessed, blessed relief! No more of that raspy-voiced, dead-eyed shrew whom audiences can't stand."
Does that answer your question?
And, dcd, yes, she looks younger because of the massive, massive surgery and full-body liposuction she got done to get ready for her failed "comeback" in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
For an example of the exact opposite career track, look at Nicole Kidman, who rose phoenix-like from the ashes of Far and Away etc. to become the star she is now, once she ditched the crazy midget.
Good summary, Jordan. Wasn't she the highest paid actress for a very brief period of time? I'm talking G.I. Jane period.
"look at Nicole Kidman, who rose phoenix-like from the ashes of Far and Away etc. to become the star she is now, once she ditched the crazy midget." HA!
nicole kidman was dating linda hunt?
linda hunt is crazy?
I'd like to see Linda Hunt kick Tom Cruise's ass.
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