Directed by David S Goyer
Written by Mick Davis, Christine Roum
Starring Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva, Marcia Gay Harden
Release Date April 27th. 2007
Published April 26th, 2007
The Invisible is one of the more abused Hollywood releases of the last year. The teen centered, metaphysical thriller was to be released in late 2006. It was then dumped into the mire of early January. Then, with little notice, the movie was bumped to April. How little care was taken with this latest rescheduling? Trailers for The Invisible ran, even a week before the film's April 27th release, touting the film's January release. Ouch!
Released without being shown to critics, another unkind cut, The Invisible is a sad case of a studio that did not know what it had. This is a smart, thoughtful, spiritual thriller with a star making performance from Justin Chatwin and from director David S. Goyer. Star making; had the studio not screwed things up so badly.
Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) is a privileged teen who has every material comfort he could want. Smart, good looking and popular, Nick is even on his way out of the country having been accepted into a prestigious English writing school. Unfortunately, before he can board the plane for London; Nick is involved in a case of mistaken identity.
A group of thugs led by the troubled and abused Annie (Margerita Levieva); through a misunderstanding, come to believe that Nick has turned them over to the cops after they were busted for a robbery. Seeking him out late at night on a dark empty street they drag him into the woods with the intent of just beating him up. They end up beating him to within an inch of his life and hiding the body.
Nick is not dead but he's also not alive. Emerging from the forest seemingly unscathed; Nick arrives at school and finds that no one can see or hear him; he is Invisible to the living. After some soul searching, Nick realizes that he may still have a chance to live if he can convince Annie to help him find his body and save his life.
Directed by David S. Goyer, the writer behind the Blade movies and Ghost Rider, The Invisible is a surprisingly thoughtful and involving melodrama. Spiritual, though not religious, The Invisible unfolds a metaphysical mystery that explores human nature, compassion and forgiveness in the guise of an average teenage ghost story.
Justin Chatwin, who played Tom Cruise's son in War of the Worlds, looks and carries similar mannerisms to a young Tom Cruise. It is uncanny; the ways this kid evokes Cruise circa Taps, The Outsiders and up to The Color of Money, his pre-scientology phase. The kid is charismatic, handsome, and carries that indescribable star magnetism that should make him a big star.
Chatwin brings a thoughtfulness to Nick that is unexpected from a character in a b-movie teen ghost story. But then, thankfully, nearly everything about The Invisible defies expectations. It's supposed to be another teen horror movie from the marketing. It's supposed to be a B-movie because it has no recognizable stars and it's supposed to stink because the studio didn't show the film to critics ahead of time. The Invisible turns all of these expectations on their ears and comes out a smart, meditative and immersive moviegoing experience.
Based on a novel by Swedish writer Mats Wahl, The Invisible is; not surprisingly, an existentialist meditation on the philosophy of existence. Nick falls into the cracks between life and death and is forced to examine why he wants to live and take action to save his own life. Annie on the other hand is uncertain about her wanting to exist. She has lived in the shadows of life; going unnoticed, in her own way; Invisible, unless she was crossed. She confronts her dark existence in dealing with Nick and finds the meaning of her own life.
Heavy stuff for what was expected to be just another teen movie. That is what is so great about this picture, the way director David S. Goyer and screenwriters Mick Davis and Christine Roum never settled for just a ghost story, just a horror movie or just a mystery. The Invisible has a rich inner life, a subtext that is so often missing from modern, mainstream Hollywood movies.
The Invisible is a thoughtful, entertaining, even exciting movie that defies all expectations. Hollywood Pictures, the Disney subsidiary that released The Invisible, may have had no confidence in the film but no matter. The Invisible thrives despite its studio indifference. The movie thrives on smart storytelling, good action and terrific direction from rising filmmaker David S. Goyer.
Don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge The Invisible by its studio indifference. This is a terrific movie that deserves your attention.
