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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 15

Cast Renee Zellweger Ian McShane Bradley Cooper.

Directors Christian Alvart.

Screenwriters Ray Wright.

Running Time 109 minutes

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Case 39
Don't they grow up so fast these days...

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Plot
A social worker fights to save a child from an abusive household, only to discover the situation is worse than she ever imagined.

Review
Quite why this shabby little shocker has been delayed so long is anyone’s guess. But it’s been locked away in a storeroom at its mother studio for so long — two years in all — that director Christian Alvart has shot and finished another movie in the meantime, which will be with us in only a few weeks (space shocker Pandorum). It is hardly that controversial. It is no less silly or over-cranked than a host of fellow mid-order studio horrors. And there are no great special-effect challenges to trouble the filmmakers — just a scattering of angry-hornets-in-nostrils, micro-flashes of devil-faces, and the odd burning corridor.

You may have gathered by now that there are supernatural elements at work, and that, yes, young Lilith (Jodelle Ferland) is suffering more than just the early onset of puberty blues. It’s also one of those films hard to discuss without giving at least some of the game away. Put it this way, there’s no need for Inspector Morse to figure out that Lilith’s Hills Have Eyes-looking parents are actually doing everyone a favour when they try and cook her in the oven.

Renée Zellweger pouts and shrieks when no-one buys that her new foster child is fomenting great evil via her mobile, but struggles to pull off terror. She comes across generally peeved, before equally unconvincingly switching to vengeful bitch. She’s not helped that Lilith’s motivation is so woolly — she just hates good people! Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper and Ian McShane turn up in luckless boyfriend-shrink/friendly-local-detective roles to do things that make no sense at all. Why does a city (patently renta-city Vancouver) cop use a 12-gauge shotgun for close-quarters work? Would a child-psychologist really be this spooked by a small girl’s hissy fit?

That German director Alvert tries to keep a degree of restraint on such cock-eyed material ends up to its detriment. With the bumpy feel of multiple re-edits, for half the film he pretends it’s all a provocative real-world thriller, such that when the mumbo-jumbo kicks off it’s twice as batty. Going for broke would have been more fun. Especially as the odd spots of hell-spawn action have a compelling weirdness about them. Sadly, the twist, if you can call it that, isn’t anywhere near as hilarious as that of fellow tween-psycho epic Orphan.

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for Case 39

Started Good, Then Went Downhill.

Case 39 had a good start, it grabbed my attention instanly and was prepared to give it a good enough review on here. But it soon turned way over the top and stupid. There was no real explaintion of what was going on, the acting seemed stiff and wooden from a good well known cast. I jumped a few times and felt uneasy but with it's farfeched twist, this is a film that has a good start but will go downhill quite quickly. ... More

Posted by joanna likes films at 09:55, 07 August 2010 | Report This Post

Started Good, Then Went Downhill.

Case 39 had a good start, it grabbed my attention instanly and was prepared to give it a good enough review on here. But it soon turned way over the top and stupid. There was no real explaintion of what was going on, the acting seemed stiff and wooden from a good well known cast. I jumped a few times and felt uneasy but with it's farfeched twist, this is a film that has a good start but will go downhill quite quickly. ... More

Posted by joanna likes films at 09:55, 07 August 2010 | Report This Post

RE:

Half way through this I started to think Empire had got it wrong. Then the little girl became far more prominent and it went downhill fast. This could have been decent, but sadly loses its way and never recovers. I liked the hornet scene though. 2 stars. ... More

Posted by skeletonjack at 11:36, 06 March 2010 | Report This Post

Worst movie ever. ... More

Posted by odddaze at 23:26, 05 March 2010 | Report This Post

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