Popcorn Movie Reviews: Short Pop Up Reviews for Busy Movie Lovers

POPCORN #MOVIEREVIEWS

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SCREAM QUEEN: AVAILABLE ON SHUDDER

LEARN THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES HAPPENINGS TO NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE. RECOMMENDED WATCH!

STARRY EYES: AVAILABLE ON AMAZON PRIME

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CREEP: AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX

A LONELY PSYCHO SEEKS A FRIEND: RECOMMENDED WATCH!

1BR: AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX

A YOUNG WOMAN LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY: EH, I KINDA RECOMMEND

Between Worlds staring Nicolas Cage #MovieReview

Between Worlds

2018 * Thriller * 1h 30 min

IMDb - 4.9/10 Rotten Tomatoes - 32%

Nicolas Cage might be the most eccentric actor of his generation. He brings an unpredictable and wild charisma to each of his projects, whether he’s a convicted criminal just trying to catch a ride home in Con Air, or a revenge stricken crazy man in Mandy. He delivers entertainment. The good, the bad and the utterly ridiculous.

His latest film Between Worlds falls in the last category.

It’s not a bad premise. Julie, played by Franka Potene, wants to save her comatose daughter. Enter Joe, Nic Cage’s character, a truck driver drinking away life, mourning the loss of his family. Julie enlists his help to jump between worlds in order to coax her daughter back to the living. Except, Joe’s wife jumps into the body of Julie’s daughter.

I expected Joe to play an essential role in the souls passing from the living to the dead. Really, he doesn’t. His only purpose…Actually, I have no idea what his purpose within this movie is. Horrible sex scenes? Cringe worthy dialogue? Now that I’m reflecting on the movie, I honestly can’t come up with a reason why his character decided to stick around with Julie after their first encounter.

And what a crazy amazing first encounter it was. They meet at a gas station bathroom where Julie is being chocked to death. We later find out that in order for Julie to jump between worlds, she needs to have a near death experience. But Joe doesn’t know this, and he saves her. From there, they team up to go visit Julie’s daughter in the hospital. Why? I don’t know. Maybe Julie couldn’t withstand the animal magnetism Joe is radiating. But they go to the hospital and that’s when Julie convinces Joe to strangler her. The goal is to get Julie to help her daughter’s spirit get back into her body.

But I’d argue Julie has no real power. Not then, not ever within this movie. She can enter the spirit world, but does absolutely nothing once there. Literally, she just stands there. And there is no real spirit world, not like I was expecting. It’s just the exact same setting as the real world. No floating spirits. No angels, no devils, no fire and brimstone, no special effects.

And from there, things just continue to slide downhill. You have exorcist style sex scenes, Nic Cage dancing while Julie’s daughter sprays him with a hose, a hand job under a blanket scene, a predictable twist, and an ending that had me groaning in bewilderment.

With all that said, I can’t help but be entertained. It’s a bad movie worth watching with a friend, someone who can laugh along with you at the absurd dialogue and acting. I actually reviewed this movie along with my podcast co-host Ward on our bad movie review podcast Box Office Refund. Ward goes on the record saying this is one of Nic Cage’s best performances. I wouldn’t go that far, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

My score: 2 Stars