In 1949 composer Roman Strauss is executed for the vicious murder of his wife Margaret with a pair of scissors. In 1990s Los Angeles a mute amnesiac woman shows up at an orphanage and private eye Mike Church is called in to investigate. Under hypnosis both the woman and Church seem to have a strange link back to the Strauss murder.
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award1 win & 5 nominations total
Top Critics Reviews
fresh:
A big, convoluted, entertainingly dizzy romantic mystery melodrama. It's also another coup de cinema for Mr. Branagh.
– Lawrence Van Gelder,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
Branagh's lame stab at a romantic psychological thriller makes no sense.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
26 Jan 2006
fresh:
Director and star Kenneth Branagh brings the same zest and bravura style to this actors' romp of a mystery-thriller as he did to Henry V.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
6 Jul 2010
fresh:
As the twists come thick and fast and the plot gets progressively more and more baroque, Branagh shows himself to be at least as intelligent as Brian De Palma in delivering over-the-top stylistic filigree.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
25 Oct 2010
rotten:
Branagh's contemporary American accent is annoying, and the film's constant inter-cutting of past and present lives becomes laughable.