10 Cloverfield Lane

2016 thriller

Rating: 11/20

Plot: A woman's involved in a car accident and wakes up in an underground shelter with the conspiracy theorist who created it and another man. The conspiracy theorist claims that some sort of attack has made the air outside toxic and that they'll need to stay underground for a year or two. Luckily, they've got Monopoly and ice cream.

A Facebook acquaintance warned me about this, but because of how much I liked Cloverfield, movie which really has nothing to do with this; seeing John Goodman throw out the first pitch at a recent St. Louis Cardinals game I attended; and positive reviews from critics, I decided to see it anyway. The story had potential, and the performances were good enough. I always like Goodman anyway, and it's fun seeing him play a character who is slightly unhinged but trying desperately to not seem unhinged.

Unfortunately, I just didn't like the movie at all. I don't think it made a lot of sense, and then the final twenty minutes, where it almost seems to turn into another movie with a different genre, really had me rolling my eyes. There's a real goofiness to some scenes, especially a montage where the trio is shown putting puzzles together and playing board games to "I Think We're Alone Now," that disrupts the tone the movie should held. Attempts to turn Mary Elizabeth Winstead's character into Ripley never really worked, and she was just a little too resourceful, like a female McGyver, throughout the movie. The creation of this third individual, John Gallagher Jr.'s character, was flimsy. For 80% of the movie, it just doesn't get under your skin enough even though that's what I think director Dan Trachtenberg was trying to do, and then there's just way too much going on with that final 20%.

It all ends with far too many unanswered questions, but I'm really not even sure I want any of them answered. If there is a sequel to this, I'll definitely see it, but it's nothing I'm going to look forward to.

Product placement: Goldfish crackers.