Trance (2013)

Review: written Feb 2014

Danny’s break from the Olympics is a winner

Taking time off from creating `that' Olympic opening ceremony, Danny Boyle has brought his trademark visual flourish to this heist thriller / psychological thriller. It's lightweight by Boyle standards, being more mindbending than thought provoking, but succeeds as an entertainment, and will still spark those conversations in the pub afterwards on what works and what doesn't.

It's not a bad thing to go into the movie knowing as little as possible. Suffice to say it centres on James McAvoy's character Simon, who finds himself at the centre of an art heist. The thieves headed by Vincent Cassel soon realise they don't have what they came for and the only person who knows where it is has amnesia - time for hypnotherapist Rosario Dawson to enter the scene. Thereafter you just have to fasten your seatbelts and stay focussed.

In this sort of thriller that relies more on keeping the audience on their toes as to who did what, the actors are critical in selling the premise, and all three leads are convincing here with McAvoy a revelation, and Dawson revealing. Basked in a neon world it really is hard to tell what is reality sometimes.. Ultimately, how you will feel about Trance will probably depend on where you sit on the `style' versus `substance' debate. The substance here is fun, but too clever to be a B movie and not smart enough to be a classic. There's a bit there in the middle where the activity is frantic but somehow the pace of excitement slacks off.. Style wins the day though, as the pace, visuals and music carry you dizzyingly from one scene to the next, until you're as mesmerised as the hypnotees in the movie. With an ending that will divide opinion, Boyle has added another singular movie to his filmography, which is well worth a watch. How many movies have full frontal nudity as a key plot point..? What will he fit next into his packed schedule..