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Directed by: Christian Alvart Premise: A social worker (Renee Zellweger) becomes
a foster parent to an abused girl (Jodelle Ferland). As suspicious incidents
begin to occur, it becomes clear that there is something strange about the
child. What Works: Case
39 features a very creepy performance by Jodelle Ferland as the mysterious
little girl. She has a command of the scenes she is in and exudes a wide variety
of emotions, making character very convincing and manipulative. What Doesn’t: Case
39 is a variation on the evil child storyline seen in films like The
Ring, The
Bad Seed, and The
Omen but it doesn’t do that storyline nearly as well as any of those
films. The story of Case 39 is in trouble from its premise. Having a
social worker who, the film tells us, has no social life because she is so busy
with work take on the responsibilities of parenting strains the film's
credulity. That’s to say nothing of the fact that the child is one of the
social worker’s cases, which seems like a significant professional conflict of
interest. As a thriller, Case 39
suffers from poor pacing. The film lets the audience in on the truth of the
mystery too soon and does not adequately build up to that revelation. A lot of
the set pieces that are supposed to be scary are often silly, such as the
bathroom wasp attack, and Case 39 does
not make much sense. The film is full of inconsistencies as the story plays fast
and loose with its own logic and the characters make stupid decisions. Renee
Zellwegger is miscast as the struggling social worker and she is unable to
convey the terror nor even entertain notions of doubt or internal conflict that
ought to complicate her character’s challenge. Bottom Line: Case 39 is not a good film and viewers are better off revisiting any of the superior versions of the evil child genre than wasting their time on this film. |
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