Delayed Reaction: Passion

The Pitch: Rachel McAdams is a manipulative boss, but not in a funny way. More like a Single, White Female way.

I wouldn't say that I'm a Brian De Palma fan, but I sure have seen a lot of his movies, specifically 1993 on. Let's just say that his fastball isn't what it used to be. I watched Passion for many of the same reasons I watched Femme Fatale and was similarly unimpressed. I could not connect with the tone of the film. The score starts off distractingly whimsical and moves to the slow jazz of softcore porn before too long. It called attention to itself far too much.

I love Rachel McAdams, but she felt miscast. She can totally play a manipulative villain. She kind of launched her career doing that. She doesn't do two-faced though. She doesn't fake sweetness. You always knew where Regina George stood. Her niceness, was obviously fake. In Passion, Christine Stanford is meant to actually fool people and I didn't buy it.

Speaking of not buying things, Noomi Rapace's plan for getting away with Christine's murder is nonsense. It relied far too much on chance. Finding a non-bloody scarf as a sure-fire way to get out of prison is USA detective-series level weak/circumstantial. Look, it's not that hard. Just don't treat that like a master-plan. Admit that it was weak or that Rapace got lucky. Don't have the assistant retrace the steps at the end like it's some brilliant scheme she uncovered.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend