Movie Review: Premonition – Starring Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon & Nia Long

Movie: Premonition (PG-13)
Released: March 16th, 2007
Runtime: 1 hr. 50 min.
Ticket Price: $5.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: Swedish Fish
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon and Nia Long
Director: Mennan Yapo

Rating: Worth a Rental –

Synopsis: Linda is living a very good life; until a knock at the door reveals that her husband has died in a car crash. The next day she wakes up to find her husband still alive and thinks she was having a very realistic nightmare. When it happens again she starts to figure out that she is not dreaming and that she needs to figure out a way to keep her family intact. Or, does she?

Review: Premonition is a well-done suspense drama for the most part. You want to keep watching. You want to know what is going on. Do you find out what is going on? Well, I don’t want to give anything away. This kind of movie is tough to review. You can give away much of the plot in a comedy and it will still be funny. Same with a drama and it will still be dramatic. In the case of a suspense thriller, if you give away too much, it ceases to be suspenseful and the thrill is gone. Well, what to do?

How about giving you a few things about Premonition that won’t ruin the movie for you:

• If you decide to watch it, it is the type of movie that should be seen with a group of friends or with a date. It will, at least, give you something to talk about.
• Sandra Bullock (The Lake House, Speed) is totally believable as Linda, the loving mother, wife and friend who the story revolves around. She is very good in this role. You are wondering if she is going crazy, gone crazy or just dreaming the whole thing. If you don’t buy the actress in a role like this, she would be distracting to the story and the movie would end up being pretty bad. For example: When she has to tell her kids of their father’s death, you get, as Coffee Talk‘s Linda Richman would say, “a little verklempt.”
• The writer and director do a very good job of tying story elements together, as the story is told with jumps back and forth in time. This kind of storytelling can easily lose the audience, if not done well. The time shifting element, in this case, is just easy enough to follow so you don’t get lost, but hard enough that you need to pay attention to keep up with the story.
• A premonition regarding Premonition was almost fulfilled. It was a great idea, but had an ending that left me a little wanting. This is the biggest fear within this genre of movie. The more you think about what happens in the movie and the way it ends though, the less and less that may be the case.

Premonition is a solid suspense drama. Although, the feeling you are left with at the end of the movie is not the one I would have wanted to leave the audience with, if I had made this film. Ultimately, it is a clever idea with good writing and fine performances all around from the cast. It is worth seeing, but you should probably wait for the rental.

What did you think of Premonition?