Stumbles in so many spots that it's even difficult to champion a claim for Berry being the best thing about it.
Gothika (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:159
Fresh:24
Rotten:135
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Berry's acting talents can't save Gothika from its preposterous plot and bad dialogue.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (HALLE BERRY) is an expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane. Under the direction of her husband... A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (HALLE BERRY) is an expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane. Under the direction of her husband (CHARLES S. DUTTON), the chief administrator of the psychiatric ward at the Woodward Penitentiary for Women, Miranda treats dangerously disturbed patients like Chloe (PENÉLOPE CRUZ), an intensely charismatic murderess whose confessions of satanic torture are dismissed by the judicious doctor as the psychotic meanderings of a paranoid mind. But Miranda's comfortable marriage and stable life are thrust into terrifying jeopardy after a cryptic encounter with a mysterious young girl leads to a nightmare beyond her wildest imagination. When Miranda awakens from the horrific incident, she is shocked to discover that her husband has been murdered - and the bloody evidence points directly at her. Unable to fathom having committed an unmotivated act of such sheer brutality against a man she loved and admired, Miranda suddenly finds herself confined to Woodward alongside the highly unstable patients she used to treat with methodical detachment. With no memory of the night in question except for fractured visions of the hauntingly enigmatic girl, the doctor's behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Her claims of innocence are seen as the beginnings of a deep descent into madness by her former colleagues like Dr. Pete Graham (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.), Miranda's sympathetic but skeptical coworker who is wrestling with issues of his own. Forced to rely on her instincts rather than facts, Miranda begins to believe that she has been possessed by a supernatural force determined to exact revenge at the expense of her sanity. As Chloe draws her deeper into her own personal hell, Miranda must determine if she is being driven to madness…or closer to the truth. Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures presents a Dark Castle Entertainment production, Gothika, starring HALLE BERRY. The film also stars ROBERT DOWNEY JR., CHARLES S. DUTTON, JOHN CARROLL LYNCH, BERNARD HILL and PENÉLOPE CRUZ. Gothika is directed by MATHIEU KASSOVITZ and produced by JOEL SILVER, ROBERT ZEMECKIS and SUSAN LEVIN. Written by SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ, the film is executive produced by STEVE RICHARDS, GARY UNGAR and DON CARMODY. The co-producer is RICHARD MIRISCH. The music is by JOHN OTTMAN; the director of photography is MATTHEW LIBATIQUE, A.S.C.; the production designer is GRAHAM "GRACE" WALKER; and the editor is YANNICK KERGOAT. -- © Warner Bros. [More]
Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton
Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Kathleen Mackey
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Screenwriter: Sebastian Gutierrez
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Gothika
The movie begins reasonably enough, but the longer it goes on, the more deficiencies in the writing begin to show.
In trash as in art there is no accounting for taste, and reader, I cherished this movie in all of its lurid glory.
It even manages to make a shower scene involving both Berry and Cruz completely boring.
Whether you're willing to pay full price to see style over substance is up to you, but if you go in knowing you're not seeing the next classic, you might have a little fun.
A B-level thriller with giant plot holes and lazy direction that pretends it's a real movie by casting A-list stars and getting a foreign art-house director to helm it.
Those who like their chills diluted may enjoy it, but anyone who prefers their horror straight up is likely to find the film a disappointment.
... an effectively engineered thriller (if you) accept the B-movie psycho-babble and an ending that begs blind indulgence.
Halle Berry's shrink-to-inmate story has a few problems ... and some nice, solid, cheesy-cheap jolts.
Although it tries valiantly, Hollywood’s latest horror film is nowhere near as scary as the pitch meeting that is likely responsible for its existence.
The real test of a horror movie is...how often a girl buries her face in your chest.There were moments where she’d dive into my arms and I’d have to say,'It was just a bird.'
Once it turns into another spook story, it just becomes an endless 'Tales From the Crypt' episode, only devoid of any humor or energy.
It is a thoroughly synthetic confection, compounded of clichés drawn from a half-dozen genres and subgenres that for a while might almost persuade its audience, as it apparently convinced its makers, that it is something more.
How anyone in the cast manages to keep a straight face is one of the film's innumerable mysteries.
Dwells in its own abysmal dreariness without creating real suspense, relying instead on a stream of easy shocks to convince us that we're watching a scary movie.
Logic is tossed out the window, chased down the road and abused so roundly that it never comes back.
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