"How did you know that?"
"I'm psychic"
Psychologist and paranormal investigator Dr. Margaret Matheson
(Sigourney Weaver) and her assistant Dr. Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) a physicist
travel around debunking supposed paranormal activity from bumps in the night to
stage psychics. Dr. Buckley wants to investigate their most challenging person
to date, Simon Silver (Robert De Niro), a redound psychic who is making a
comeback after a thirty year absence from the stage. Dr. Matheson warns Buckley
against this though after having come up against him in the 1970s and failing to
prove him a fraud. With the help of student Sally Owen (Elisabeth Olsen) Buckley
defies Matheson and begins investigating the illusive Silver.
As a radical atheist and sceptic the film’s ideas appealed
to me. I was delighted to watch the scientists make fun of and debunk people
who claim to see ghosts and be able to read minds. The script treats these people
with distain and isn’t afraid to mention how these people can be responsible for
giving stupid people false hope and can even cost lives. The cast is also
amongst the best of any film this year. With actors such as Signourney Weaver,
Cillian Murphy, Toby Jones, Joely Richardson, the delightful Elizabeth Olsen
and my all time favourite actor Robert De Niro, anything less than a great film
would be a disappointment. Well, this isn’t a great film but it isn’t terrible
either.
