Review of I Inside, The

Introduction

That plot up there sounds very familiar doesn`t it, as if it has been composited from the plot of various other films. Erased memories, time travel, money and murders. The blurring of what`s real and what`s not. There`s some Groundhog Day, Paycheck, The Butterfly Effect, mixed with a bit of David Cronenberg and some more in this particular melting pot of a film.

The film stars Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Rea, Sarah Polley, Piper Perabo and Robert Sean Leonard and was directed by German director Roland Suso Richter, his first English language film as director.

Video

A 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer awaits us on this disc. Everything looks clean and crisp with a pleasing lack of dirt, dust and grain. Despite an interestingly muted colour scheme (on account of many scenes being played out in a hospital), the film still looks good, with excellent detail levels, good shadow detail and good strong blacks when required.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack, which is a reasonable effort. This is not really a big boom and bang blockbuster, and the main element of the audio track is the score, which uses all channels to good effect. There`s little in the way of atmospherics, and any other sounds never really escape from the front portion of your set up. A shame really, as a bit more attention to detail when designing this soundtrack could have resulted in an enhanced viewing experience.

Features

Not a lot really. Interviews with Ryan Phillippe, Piper Perabo and diretor Roland Suso Richter don`t really give you much insight into the film and the background, just the usual bits of PR fluff bandied round to promote the film.

The other extras are the usual spoil the film in a couple of minutes trailer, a miniscule photo gallery and production notes (as a PDF for those with a DVD-ROM drive).

Conclusion

Despite the fact that you`re sure you know Ryan Phillippe and you`re sure he`s been in loads of films that you hate, it`s just not true. You`ll probably know 5 of his films at best :- I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cruel Intentions, The Way of the Gun, Antitrust and Gosford Park. It`s probably the first 2 that put you off him, and perhaps the abysmal Antitrust too.

So this film is very different to any of those other films, as the lead character is not some preppy teen, but a character with a hidden past and an air of mystery. It`s quite a dark film at times, not some frothy teen angst film. It`s not a big action thriller, it`s a dialogue driven film. And whilst you do wish that something would happen once in a while, you can just about put up with the lack of action. Except you do then get to the plot, and the events that are thrown at the lead character one after the other. It`s all too rushed in order to get it over quickly before anyone`s attention drifts off, and the film suffers immensely because of this as it loses any shred of believability.

The disc itself is an average affair, with an excellent picture being let down by reasonable sound and almost pointless extras.

If you rented this film for the wrong reason (perhaps someone you know likes Ryan Phillippe?) then you might be ok watching it. It`s just about worth a rental but only if all the other films you want to watch are out. It`s kind of ok, but don`t expect too much.