"Paranoid" follows American fashion model Chloe (Jessica Alba) who is invited to a party outside London by someone she is a mere acquaintance with. She accepts the invitation, only to find herself in a situation that is far more than she bargained for.
Having been a fan of director John Duigan's 1997 film "Lawn Dogs," I sort of went into this expecting it to be not as bad as people have said. Unfortunately, it is pretty bad, though it has some elements that make it mildly watchable. This little-seen thriller looks like it could be decent on the surface, and it does have a few good moments scattered throughout, but the general consensus is right: This film is pretty poor. As a thriller, it doesn't offer much in way of suspense, and the screenplay bafflingly manages to be both one-note and subplot-ridden.
As much as I don't want to say it, though, the true stake in the heart of the film is Jessica Alba's abysmal performance. While her dialogue is partly to blame, she spends most of the film speaking in a one-note sing-song manner that is truly bizarre. What's even more unfortunate is that she is surrounded by top-notch actors who only make her look worse. Iain Glen, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ewen Bremner, and even a young Mischa Barton all outshine Alba by leaps and bounds.
All in all, this is a rather dull film that suffers partly from a half-baked screenplay, but mostly (and unfortunately) from the lead performance. Had another actor taken Alba's role, the film would have been marginally better, but even still, the bones here are not great--average at best. Worth a watch if you want to see a stark contrast between good and bad acting. 5/10.
Having been a fan of director John Duigan's 1997 film "Lawn Dogs," I sort of went into this expecting it to be not as bad as people have said. Unfortunately, it is pretty bad, though it has some elements that make it mildly watchable. This little-seen thriller looks like it could be decent on the surface, and it does have a few good moments scattered throughout, but the general consensus is right: This film is pretty poor. As a thriller, it doesn't offer much in way of suspense, and the screenplay bafflingly manages to be both one-note and subplot-ridden.
As much as I don't want to say it, though, the true stake in the heart of the film is Jessica Alba's abysmal performance. While her dialogue is partly to blame, she spends most of the film speaking in a one-note sing-song manner that is truly bizarre. What's even more unfortunate is that she is surrounded by top-notch actors who only make her look worse. Iain Glen, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ewen Bremner, and even a young Mischa Barton all outshine Alba by leaps and bounds.
All in all, this is a rather dull film that suffers partly from a half-baked screenplay, but mostly (and unfortunately) from the lead performance. Had another actor taken Alba's role, the film would have been marginally better, but even still, the bones here are not great--average at best. Worth a watch if you want to see a stark contrast between good and bad acting. 5/10.