In a refreshing change, The Hole is a British movie that is not a quirky rom-com, an East End gangster film or the tale of the working class up North against the odds. The Hole is about four teenagers who are so desperate to get out of a field trip to Wales that they lock themselves in an old World War II bunker, and get stuck there. Cherubic young babe Thora Birch has perfected a posh English accent for her role as the main character, Liz. As the movie opens she escapes from the Hole and a police investigation follows. The story unfolds in flashback as Liz recounts her experiences to police psycologist Philippa Harwood (Embeth Davidtz).
There is something uncinematic about this film, it feels very much like a TV movie, or an uncharacteristically high-quality ITV drama. Having the Britich Police investigating a crime is not condusive to great cinema. Much like in an episode of A Touch Of Frost or Inspector Morse, they just go round interviewing people and looking at the scene of the crime. There's never any car chases or shoot-outs.
Liz tells Harwood one version of events, then, later another one. The original just seems to be there to make the 'real' events more dark and disturbing. But it just does not deliver. There are no truly disturbing scenes, no matter how much they want to be. The film just is not frightening, and the one thing that it seems to promise from the outset, that could have salvaged something from its reluctance to pack any kind of punch, does not happen. It needs a twist at the end so badly, you're begging for one, just to make it seem worthwhile that you sat through it. And yet it fails to deliver in this score too. If it is meant to be a twist at the end it is very poorly done, and telegraphed from far too early. Not so much the Hole as the Pits, wait for the video. 3/10 |
