Trespass (2011)
Certified:
Duration: 91 minutes
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Cam Gigandet, Jordana Spiro, Ben Mendelsohn, Liana Liberato, Dash Mihok, Nico Tortorella, Emily Meade
KRS release
Home invasion is the theme of this thriller. Nicolas Cage plays Kyle Miller a family man and also a smooth talking dealer of diamonds.
Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman plays his wife Sarah who works as an architect, while Avery (Liana Liberato) is their teenage daughter who has quite a rebellious streak.
Kyle is having trouble with debt collectors and even on his way home in his expensive car he is busy teleconferencing. They live in a deluxe complex, surrounded by a forest.
On one occasion, Kyle returns home to find an argument brewing between his wife and daughter about whether or not Avery should be allowed to go to a party.
Avery slips out despite her parents’ decision. That is when policemen arrive at their doorstep.
The policemen however, turn out to be thieves in disguise. Led by a sarcastic and tough type Elias (Ben Mendelsohn) the thieves require that Kyle opens the safe.
Apart from this, Elias seems to know quite a lot about the house’s security systems.
The abuse and nightmare starts as Kyle tries to bargain for his life and that of his wife. This is a deal that Kyle cannot afford to lose.
Trespass, as directed by Joel Schumacher, is intense and volatile in nature, propelled forward by the performances of Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman.
Mr Schumacher has here directed a claustrophobic picture that makes the best of the enclosed setting in which the cast is placed.
The Miller residence seems to take on a life of its own as does the oppressive nature of the surroundings.
The script by Karl Gajdusek embraces the conventions, rules and usual settings of the genre, never going out of its way to surprise.
The script plays it safe and in a way it is old fashioned in its structured approach to the situation.
Apart from the main actors Mr Mendelsohn shows presence, even though his character is a bit too linear.
The tug of war between Mr Mendelsohn and Mr Cage is brutal and gutsy. This is a case of calling a bluff as the threat level rises. This inevitably leads to a serious amount of camp as the characters test each other. The “campy” element needs to betaken into one’s stride to keep the movie rolling.
Coupled with the way the characters seem intent on upping each other, Trespass turns out to be an unusually entertaining B picture populated with an A-list cast.