What the hell has happened to Nicolas Cage? Originally, there was a time where when he was good, he was amazing to watch, and when he was bad, he was still amazing. He was one of the most entertaining people to watch no matter what he did, but then as time went on and the more movies he appeared in, the more that Cage magic was disappearing to the point where it wasn’t fun to watch him anymore. Looking Glass is sadly no exception to that. The plot (if there is even one) revolves around a husband and wife who are grieving the death of their child and buy a desert hotel. It’s only then when the husband discovers a secret room that has a secret two-way mirror and from there that mysterious events transpire.
This sounds like perfect B-movie material where we see a character go through a thought-provoking, soul-searching relationship that involves plenty of sleaziness, but the movie never truly delves into any of that. One character asks the main protagonist if he is indeed a voyeur, but he doesn’t seem to know, and neither does the movie, which further adds to the paint-by-numbers quality it has. Despite being billed as a suspense thriller, there is zero suspense throughout, questions that are raised never answered satisfyingly, and even as it throws a twist towards the end, there are so few characters here that you just don’t give a damn about, so when the real villain is finally shown you really just don’t care.
Looking Glass feels like an enormous drag, drifting and meandering along without anything going on that is exciting or captivating with all of the performances coming across as either tired or stilted. Director Tim Hunter is a TV veteran with many great shows under his belt, including Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, and American Horror Story, but the direction he brings here comes off as lazy, which is also reflected in the subpar cinematography. Ultimately, this movie is just no fun at all, and further proof to just how low Nicolas Cage has fallen recently. It’s truly painful to see Cage go from being awesomely good/bad to just straight up bad, and with him doing mostly being involved with direct-to-DVD trash like this, it’s perhaps time to signal off the good old Nicolas Cage hype train. Maybe both Mom and Dad and Mandy can reinvigorate that hype and see Cage deliver another one of his most kick-ass performances yet seen since… well, Kick-Ass, but for now, perhaps it’s time to let that ship sail.
LOOKING GLASS / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: TIM HUNTER / SCREENPLAY: JERRY RAPP, MATTHEW WILDER / STARRING: NICOLAS CAGE, ROBIN TUNNEY, MARC BLUCAS, ERNIE LIVELY / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 23RD
