Wicker Park (2004)

Number Rolled: 39

Movie Name/Year: Wicker Park (2004)

Genre: Thriller

Length: 114 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Affiliated Companies: MGM, Lakeshore Entertainment

Executive Producer: Georges Benayoun, Gilles Mimouni, Harley Tannenbaum, Henry Winterstern

Director: Paul McGuigan

Writer: Gilles Mimouni, Brandon Boyce

Actors: Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Matthew Lillard, Diane Kruger, Christopher Cousins, Jessica Pare, Amy Sobol, Ted Whittall, Joanna Noyes

Matthew is just starting down a new road in his career. Just before an important trip to China is about to begin, he convinces himself that he’s seen the girlfriend who disappeared a couple of years earlier. Obsessed with finding out what happened, he puts off his trip in order to find her.

Josh Hartnett (Penny Dreadful, Girl Walks Into a Bar, Black Hawk Down) and Matthew Lillard (The Bridge, Fat Kid Rules the World, SLC Punk) are the two reasons this movie found its way onto my list. With the romantic qualities it’s right up Hartnett’s alley and it shows off his puppy dog quality that makes his fans swoon. Matthew Lillard… well… I think he should be in everything. I seriously believe every movie would be better with a dash of Lillard. He can do anything, but his main talent is that drop of comedy that keeps movies like this from being stale.

Why did Wicker Park need that comedy? That’s an easy question.

In short, the movie spends the first half hour competing for the title of “most boring.” Aspects of the story start to appear, but without the connections that come later on it feels confusing. Granted, in psychological thrillers there’s usually a “what the fuck’s going on here” aspect; that feeling is usually coupled with an undertone of dread and curiosity. In Wicker Park, it’s not coupled with anything.

Without Lillard’s unique, and necessary, brand of comedy it would have been a lot more difficult to suffer through the beginning.

Once the threads of the plot began to connect and I got to start seeing the big picture, however, it became almost difficult to look away.

At the very end, the movie left me satisfied. All my questions were answered and I looked back on the story fondly.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 25%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 80%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 3.1/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 3.5/5

P.S. Wicker Park is a remake of the French film The Apartment (1996)

Movie Trailer: