The Film Review

SURPRISE

Rated R.

Now showing in wide release.

Starring Tammy Olsen, Ricky Olsen, Suzie Olsen, Hans Olsen, Ols "Olsen" Olsen, Monica Olsen, and one half of the Olsen Twins.

Directed by Harold Olsen.

Screenplay by Harold Olsen and Pincus Mandelbaum


by S.S.


At the end of this film, Chloe leaves Phil.
Judson doesn't end up getting picked for the team. Sydney doesn't die (although you are led to believe she will). We care about these people so much that it is gratifying to discover how they all turn out.

Here is a film about groups of people who lead parallel lives. The purpose is to fool the viewer into thinking that the various characters will cross paths. Ultimately, they don't. The characters are always on the verge of running into each other, and this enhances the suspense.

One of the film's big secrets is that Olga is not really Russian. It turns out she was born and raised in the Bronx. But the director wants us to believe she is a spy, and he really has us going with this for most of the movie. The joke's on him, though, because she's totally American, as we discover when she is stuck in a cafe in Brighton Beach unable to communicate with anybody around her because, ironically, she is the only one in the room who doesn't actually speak Russian. This is that "terrifying moment of awkwardness" that other reviewers allude to but refuse to discuss in detail for some reason.

There are several smaller characters, including a bakery owner, a candlestick maker, a tinker, and three men in a tub who, as it turns out, are not an allegory for anything. This part of the film is just a shaggy dog story -- cleverly planted there to confuse us.

And it works. We are absolutely shocked when kindly old Mrs. McGillicuddy next door is revealed to be the murderer, not Sampson, wrongly convicted and moments away from an execution in a capital punishment state that I won't name so as not to spoil the fun. Of course, Mrs. McGillicuddy is the last person you'd suspect, but that's what makes this such a great film.

This movie has everything. Suspense. Twists. Turns. Mud. Puddles. Mud puddles. And more! There's even a trick in the closing credits. The screenwriter's daughter's name -- Narnia -- is spelled out 5 times in 5 different places in the cartoon of the old man holding the scroll. They're in his beard. See if you can spot them.

Drive, don't take a taxi to see this movie.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't seen the film, don't read this review.