BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Suspenseful thrillers, when well done, are just about as much fun as one can have at a theatre (unless you are Pee Wee Herman). The debut film from director Giusseppe Capotondi is very well acted, and pretty well written and filmed. It has some similarities to, but is not quite at the level of one of my Top 5 movies from 2008 - Tell No One.Filmed in Italy (with English subtitles), the film does a terrific job of sucking us right in. Guido (Filippo Timi) and Sonia (Ksenrya Rappoport) meet at a speed dating event. He is a former cop now security guard, and she is a Slovenian immigrant working as a housekeeper at a swanky Italian hotel. Love blossoms for these two until the story takes a very dark turn. That's when all the twists and turns and misdirection begin.Really not possible to talk too much about what happens, other than to say the characters and events aren't always what they seem. I really enjoyed the first two acts of the movie, but felt letdown a bit by the final act. Some of the visuals are very good, but the wrap up is just a bit disappointing. Still, the first 80 minutes or so are terrific and make the film worth watching.

Rockwell_Cronenberg The Double Hour is a very interesting film. One of those rare pictures in which every scene counts. It's hard to review it without spoiling anything, since a lot of it's brilliance lays in a very surreal and terrifying sequence of events. The film is a lot of things; a twisted thriller, a unique and intense romance and a character study of two different individuals who find exactly what they need in each other. It works on every level that it attains towards, thanks primarily to a very intelligent script and superb performances from Filippo Timi and especially Kseniya Rappoport. The film has a lot of twists and a lot of, "what the hell is happening?" scenes, but thanks to the script it never gets too far ahead of the audience. It's easy to stick with, while still being intellectually stimulating. I wasn't bored for a second, from the huge shock of the opening scene until the interesting final one. There's a lot of great aspects that are involved throughout, the film really knows how to give it's two main characters some very emotional and enlightening arcs. They both go through a world of emotional distress and in the end they are completely changed while remaining in the same basic place that they started off. It asks a lot of questions and leaves the audience to debate them long after the film is over. Can you ever truly trust someone? What is the nature of revenge? How do you move past losing a loved one? There are many more and the film keeps you guessing all the way through. Tons of twists, great characters and interesting moves from a structural standpoint. It's a very unique film and a very fantastic one.

aharmas It seems we have to get out of the States to see Noir cinema again, to be able to get that corrosive and disturbing feeling that appears to be the essence of a good mystery. In a world populated by individuals with lives that are full of mystery and characters flaws. It is a requirement of good film noir that no one is perfect. This become painfully obvious from the first frames, as we observe how even love might never be anything but flawed, feeble attempts at meeting the right person.The two main characters are introduced in a club where simple dates, relationships might develop. It's because of the director's sure hand, the writer's clever development of the story, and primarily an amazing set of lead performers that don't mind being led in impossible directions as we unravels the mystery.Two souls find love in the unlikeliest of places. They get to know each hesitantly. In a very ironic twist, lives are destroyed, literally and psychologically. This even before the end of the first act, when before mysteries are revealed, there is much to learn and try to understand.What are we witness to? a clueless group of people who might or not be involved some organized group, or is it just someone's hyperactive activity? Or is it just an old-fashioned ghost story? We take the same twisting turns in the movie we are watching. We pick a favorite, and we hope she or he is not involved with the masterminds who orchestra the murder of a policeman.It is challenging, frustrating, and a bit long, it keeps us watching, and we haven't seen this kind of pull in a movie for a long time.

Sindre Kaspersen Music video director Giuseppe Capatondi' feature film debut which was written by Italian screenwriter Ludovica Rampoldi, Italian screenwriter and actor Stefan Sardo and Italian writer Alessandro Fabbri, premiered In competition at the 66th Venice Film Festival in 2009, was screened at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 and is an Italian production. It was shot on location in Turin, Italy and was produced by Italian producer Francesca Cima and Italian producer Nicola Giuliano. It tells the story about Sonia, a Slovenian woman who makes a living as a maid in Torino. Sonia is looking for a male companion, and through a dating bureau she meets security guard Guido and chemistry sparks. Guido and Sonia has found one another, but as they are getting to know each other their evolving relationship is interrupted.Precisely and subtly directed by Italian Giuseppe Capatondi, this finely paced and somewhat romantic fictional tale is a character-driven and plot-driven drama mostly narrated from the protagonist's point-of-view. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions and the brilliant production design by production designer Totó Santoro, this invariably intriguing thriller which depicts two merging studies of character is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure and the engaging acting performances by Russian actress Kseniya Rappoport and Italian actor and screenwriter Filippo Timi. A riveting and suspenseful mystery which gained, among other awards, the Volpi Cup Award for Best Actress Kseniya Rappoport at the 66th Venice International Film Festival in 2009.