User Reviews

Likable Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) stumbles innocently into the role of a killer, guided along the way by his evil talking cat and benevolent talking dog.

Reading other reviews, you will find words like "genre-bending" or "a mess", and indeed, the film is a bit uneven. The tone shifts a bit here and there, though it really is not all that bothersome and others seem to complain too loud.

Although Gemma Arterton has been great in the past, she just does not make the character of Fiona even remotely likable. She is supposed to be the love interest of Jerry, but there is just nothing about her that suggests chemistry. Anna Kendrick, on the other hand, is excellent, and it is great to see that she has been maintaining a high profile after "Up In The Air". She might have been the only actor to escape "Twilight" unscathed.

Reynolds should be praised for his range of voices (the cat sounds like Craig Ferguson and the dog sounds like Gary Busey). This could have been a weak point, but he instead elevates it to the next level. He also has the right personality to take a story that seems to combine the Son of Sam and "Master and Margarita" and make it fun.

If nothing else, there is a Chinese Elvis, and this may be the only movie able to claim that.

Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) is a seemingly happy guy in the town of Milton. Dr. Warren (Jacki Weaver) is his court-appointed psychiatrist. He likes Fiona (Gemma Arterton) from work but she doesn't like him back. The problem is that he sees things and hear voices from animals. He's delusionally obsessed with Fiona but Lisa (Anna Kendrick) is the one who actually likes him.

Reynolds gets to play an odd guy. He has an opportunity to play a truly scary guy but he doesn't do that until the end. This is a lot of quirky black comedy but not actually funny. It could be a horror but it's not anything scary. If Reynolds plays him more quietly, he could be scarier and intensely creepy. The animals and the talking heads could also be weirder. It has some interesting quirkiness but it could be better. It has to choose to be either truly quirky like the closing credits or be an odd quirky scary horror.

This was well worth a watch. It is a dark comedy, so there is some messed up stuff going on. Suffice to say that we have an unreliable narrator for most of the run time. Ryan is good, of course. It has Anna Kendrick, who gets some memorable moments. It lost a little steam in the third act, and I think it's because by that point, we feel like the story doesn't really have anywhere to go. I would have liked a different resolution, also. Other than that, it was fine.

I rated this film a 5 but in all honesty I have no idea how to rate this film. This is a seriously dark and disturbing movie which delves into the mind of a deranged serial killer. What disturbs me equally as much is the way this film is marketed and advertised. It's made to look more like a comedy but I can assure you that there is nothing funny about this movie. It's Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer on Ecstasy. There is nothing enjoyable about this film. It's very well made and I can believe that this is how someone with this kind of mental illness sees the world and lives their life but don't be fooled but the sugar coating given to the poster and the trailer.

A truly underrated film. It has a brilliant performance from Ryan Reynolds, in a role that is pretty unusual for him, and allows him to get out of his typical action stereotype, as he really is a great comedic and dramatic actor, when paired with the right script.

A curiously sinister yet funny tone that simultaneously makes you want to laugh and throw up, the film is a dark comedy- with emphasis on the DARK- and may not be suited to everyone's tastes, admittedly. It has moments where the gore can be quite, well, gory, and certainly it touches on mental illness in a way that may make some people uncomfortable. However, in my view, the film never makes fun of Jerry, our protagonist. In Reynolds' words, he is "a serial killer with a heart of gold", and he still remains a likable character that you root for, even to the end.

The film beholds beautiful visuals with great use of colours and very creative ways of showing how Jerry's mind works. I honestly loved it, and recommend it!

I would describe this as a semi-light hearted approach to some MAJORLY DARK, MESSED UP STUFF!!

A fine performance by Reynolds, supported by a great cast. I'd give it a 6.5 all the way.

If this review was just about Mr. Whiskers, I'd give it a 10.

Sadly, it isn't.

I love Ryan Reynolds, so when I came across this, I thought: "Yeay! A Deadpool-like movie." Trust me; it is not.

I also LOVE "dark" humor, sarcasm, double-entendre, dry wit ... (you get the picture), so after watching this, I had to really ask myself why it was that I found it so horrifying. All I could come up with is that maybe I wasn't expecting, going in, how dark a dark-comedy this really is.

Even towards the end, I kept thinking there was a twist coming that would make it not quite so dark. As such, to me, it was an assault on what I deem to be my not-so-thin-skinned sensibilities.

I may be the only one, but I hated it.

I must admit I loved parts of this movie and other parts I hated; which is not to say they were bad, I simply didn't like some parts because of the emotions they brought to the surface. The voices is a very dark comedy; there were parts which were completely laugh out loud funny (eg: many of mister whiskers' lines) and other parts were tragically serious.

I am not a Ryan Reynolds fan (at all) but this could have changed my mind completely, I didn't realise that he had done the voices until I read about it here. Jackie Weaver was outstanding as the psychiatrist American accent and all.

What I found outstanding about this movie is that it has very few of the dumbed-down, pathetic and predictable traits of the trite drivel Hollywood peddle as "comedy". There was no comparison really.

I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking, less than predictable adult-oriented movie (ie: people who aren't offended by adult concepts and the f-word).

I won't divulge any spoilers in this brief account of "The Voices" because that would ruin any viewer's surprise. Needless to say, "The Voices" is an interesting outing for Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick, and one I absolutely didn't expect. I like watching movies when you're unaware of what is to be, and "The Voices" is one of those. Thus, if you like Ryan Reynolds, and Anna Kendrick, and house pets, and maybe even karaoke, you'll find lots to love in "The Voices." Recommended.

At first I was getting kinda bored but as the movie goes on it gets surprising deep especially for a movie with Ryan Reynolds in.

I'm assuming the lower ratings are people who just watched the movie without really thinking about it but when you look deeper into it, it's good.

I will admit it does have a very slow start but font turn it off because it does get far better when at first I expected a dumb Ryan Reynolds comedy. Ryan Reynolds is actually decent at doing the whole psychopath role which was unexpected. It is a movie where it even made the end credits contribute to the movies plot. So I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

2014 was also the year that Miss Meadows appeared. Both that movie and The Voices are similar in their approaches, as each begins with a premise of innocence which is gradually eroded. Both rely on the performance and charm of the lead. Ryan Reynolds does a good job as the helpful childlike employee, reminding me a little of Jim Carrey in The Truman Show, though with less exuberance and ultimately far less gravity. The Voices is an easy movie to watch, the story is relatively uncomplicated, and early on the lead is very likeable and you want him to do alright. When it comes undone you hope he'll find a way out. I think it says a lot about how the mentally ill are far less responsible for crimes than the rest of us.

Just a side note about Miss Meadows: Initially I struggled to remember the name of that movie. Had I not recalled that there was a "Miss" in the title I would never have found it, despite describing both the plot and the dvd cover in detail at several search sites. If ever you find you really like a 'lesser' movie (ie, not a blockbuster), then my suggestion is that you make a quick note of it, because if you forget the title you may well be in for a very frustrating time indeed.

This film tries to be way too many things. Ryan from the get-go does not play any sort of average likable Joe. At least from our viewing point it is clear from the start that Ryan is playing one very sick puppy while surrounded by voices, we know all too well are his and his alone, coming from his four legged friends.

The synopsis mentions that the story"...takes a sudden, murderous turn..." but, as noted, from the start we know this is one very sick guy. The synopsis also mentions his court appointed shrink and then there are the 'meds' he is not taking. What is lacking is any real story other then a known psycho going psycho. No back story, no character development, no drama, no suspense and so not for me entertaining. Slasher shocks, OK on that one but not enough for this viewer. This was way too close to garish headlines involving the next door neighbor harboring a murderous psycho pastime. There is very little if anything funny in this film. Cat and dog mouthing a deranged killer's words does not reach the funny bone.

All in all a dark, humorless, murderous mess.

For some reason Ryan Reynolds hasn't really taken off as a movie star, but I can't really see why. He has the good looks and he has a likable personality. Maybe it has to do with GREEN LANTERN? (not the best movie, but I still enjoyed it). Well, this time teamed up with director Marjane Satrapi (PERSEPOLIS) in her English-language debut, Ryan Reynolds delivers what is probably the best performance of his career. He plays Jerry, a rather unassuming (but subtly creepy) guy who works at a faucet and fixture warehouse in a small town. Everything seems alright on the surface, but deep inside Jerry has some problems. Aside from a troubled childhood, he also hears voices inside his head, and these voices tell him to do things...bad things. I'll just say that for those looking for a lighthearted comedy, this isn't it. THE VOICES goes to some pretty dark places, but manages to balance the tone fairly evenly between comedy and shock, of which there is plenty. But most importantly, Jerry is a guy you actually care about. Despite his...issues, he really wants to do the right thing and live a normal life. Too bad that his cat Mr. Whiskers is more influential than his goodhearted dog Bosco. Across the board, all of the performances were excellent. You have Anna Kendrick and Gemma Arterton who play a couple of Jerry's coworkers, and Jacki Weaver plays his court-appointed psychiatrist. They could have been developed a little more, but this is mostly Ryan Reynold's show and boy does he deliver! From a technical standpoint, I thought the cinematography and production design lent a sort of fairy-tale quality to the film, and the color scheme which had a lot of pinks and oranges provided a nice contrast with dark subject material. As far as the gory stuff is concerned, they don't show a whole lot, instead opting for some pretty gruesome sound design. Often the power of suggestion is more effective than actually showing violent acts. And, in this case, it actually works in the film's favor because Jerry can remain just as likable when you don't actually see him kill people most of the time. If there's any weaknesses to the film, it's that it doesn't really try anything new or revolutionary in its approach to the whole "loveable serial killer" thing. Almost nothing that happens in this movie is unpredictable in some way, with one big exception which I'll leave for you to experience on your own should you choose to watch this. Overall I enjoyed this a lot, mainly because I'm drawn to oddball films like this, but also because I haven't seen Ryan Reynolds this good in, well, forever. For lovers of dark comedies, I'd say THE VOICES is a must-see.

The Voices starts almost like one of Jim Carrey's romantic comedies. It has uplifting opening music, a pastel color scheme, cartoon creatures, and a lonely male protagonist named Jerry, who is seemingly just another hard-working guy at the factory. Although there are certain hints that this film is not entirely what it seems at first, you are basically led to believing it is your average comedy experience with just a minor twist or two.

Jerry, played by Ryan Reynolds, has a couple of love interests at his workplace -- Fiona and Lisa, played by Gemma Arterton and Anna Kendrick, respectively. While Arterton's character is a bit of a nag, Kendrick's character is her usual girl-next-door type, and they both lend a lot to the romantic comedy feel of the film.

Then again, at some point it becomes clear that this is one of those psychological thrillers that challenge the border between good and evil. While most such films ultimately make you feel disturbed or instill fear in you, this one accomplishes the exact opposite by forcing you to see things from the perspective of the lead character. You may find yourself laughing at things you shouldn't, or you may feel somewhat sickened by the dark nature of the story. Whichever your reaction is, you notice the unique way how this film sheds a light on the mindset of its protagonist.

Well this one turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I did not expect much of this film, yet it is brilliant. Ryan Raynolds really nails the character being likeable and a charming yet very disturbed and odd personality that turns out so dark and sinister. And the animal's voices are a work of art too. The story is balanced and builds up very well , I particularly liked the portrayals between meditated reality and non meditated delusional phase, also the background of the character comes out pretty well without following a resume pattern.

It is definitely not a classic blood-gore and gloomy horror movie, it is more of a psychological portrayal of the mind of a disturbed guy.

Definitely worth your time, especially if you like Ryan Reynolds, this a shining gem of his acting.

I have a super dark sense of humor; but the movie being under "comedy" was totally incorrect. This movie is about a mentally ill - like not ha ha funny; like deeply mentally ill person. The movie was way more sad than anything. I watched the whole thing to see how it played out. I definitely will never forget this one.

"The Voices" certainly is not the first "black comedy" to have body parts stowed in a refrigerator. "Ms. 45" immediately comes to mind. In that film, Thana kills perverts, chops them up, and then disposes of the bodies piecemeal. In "The Voices", Ryan Reynolds keeps the heads in the refrigerator and talks to them. He also holds conversations with his pet dog and cat, who are constantly giving Reynolds advice about his serial killing. If you appreciate "dark comedy", then this is one not to miss. I'll even go so far as to suggest potential "cult status". It's original, funny, and well acted. There is no nudity and the gore is mostly off screen, but the film is entertaining in a morbid sort of way. Remember what the cat "Mr. Whiskers" said, when he suggested the killing continue. "We could always get a bigger refrigerator." - MERK

A story about Schizophrenia? No, that's not it. I really sat down and read some of the other reviews before putting mine in writing, just to be on the safe side and be impartial. So, after reading some, I can surely say that this was a really really horrible movie. A waste of my time from the beginning to the end.

Lousy depiction from Ryan Reynolds. Lousy acting. I did not see any black humor whatsoever, apart from a couple of scenes that were actually funny. Apart from that, the script was junk with no interesting findings or characters. Schizophrenia is not as simple as that. It's not as superficial and it's not as funny. He completely failed to get across the nature of someone having to cope with this disease. Lousy ending to the movie as well. All the other actors were also boring to death.

Plot holes were occurring again and again. Photography was OK, but other than that, the movie had no climax, no ups and downs, nothing. It was amazingly flat and uninteresting, keeping you questioning why you chose to see it in the first place.

I am not a person to stop a movie once it has started. I have done it with 2-3 over a period of 20 years and this one almost became the fourth one... I am really really sorry that I have wasted my time with this movie. Reading the plot seemed so promising but in the end, nothing.