Tuesday, October 2, 2012

11-11-11 (2011)




Joseph (Timothy Gibbs) is a successful writer, but he loses his faith in God after the tragic and unexpected deaths of his wife and son. Joseph becomes a bitter and lonely man, and after surviving a brutal car accident, Joseph travels to Barcelona, Spain to visit his brother and dying father. Samuel (Joseph’s brother) is a priest, and he tries to restore his brother’s faith, but Joseph’s anger and bitterness are too strong, and he doesn’t want to believe anymore. But a series of ominous warnings and demon sightings change everything, and Joseph’s fears grow stronger as time progresses. Joseph is put to the test, and time isn’t on his side, because one thing is clear, something bad will happen on 11-11-11.

11-11-11 does have its creepy moments, this film does provide a chilling and eerie atmosphere most of the time, there is some good tension here, and this film does feature a few jump scares. The acting is decent enough, and I enjoyed Timothy Gibbs’ character here. He was the broken man, who didn’t want to believe anymore. He isolated himself from everyone, and he struggles to reconnect with his family. Joseph was someone, who I could feel for, and Gibbs did deliver a believable performance. And this film did do a good job of building some nice suspense. 11-11-11 was an important date here, and I really could feel a strong sense of urgency, as the big date drew closer. I could always feel the danger, because they do provide a good amount of clues, warnings, and reminders here, and the 11-11-11 hype within the film was a nice touch. Also, I enjoyed the arguments about religion in this film. Samuel was the positive and faithful priest, who had strong beliefs, but Joseph didn’t want to believe anymore. He lost his faith, and he was an angry man. Joseph’s lack of faith sparked a lot interesting arguments throughout this film, and I enjoyed the debates between the group of people who still had faith and the non-believer (Joseph).

I enjoyed 11-11-11 for the most part, but I did have a few problems with this film. First of all, this film can feel predictable at times. This one does go through the motions most of the time, and the story does have its tedious moments. Also, I really couldn’t understand the relationship between Sadie (Wendy Glenn) and Joseph. Joseph and Sadie know each other because they are members of a support group, and they do form some sort of bond, but the true nature of relationship can be unclear most of the time. Sadie obviously cares for Joseph, because she flies to Spain to help him unravel the mystery of 11-11-11. But these two never share a love connection, so they really aren’t heading towards a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. I thought they were best friends, but at first, Joseph is surprised by Sadie’s arrival in Spain, and Sadie does look like this obsessive “stalker.” Sadie and Joseph obviously care about each other, but I didn’t know where their relationship was headed, and this is something that drove me nuts, as I watched the entire film.

I did enjoy 11-11-11 for the most part, but overall, this film does have an average feeling. I wanted to give this film a lower score, but the twist at the very end caught me off guard, and the big surprise really did feel shocking. 11-11-11 really doesn’t bring anything new to the table for horror films with religious themes, but this can be an enjoyable film. I was disappointed at times, but 11-11-11 really isn’t as bad as the critics are making it out to be, and I am happy I took a chance on this.

Final Rating: 5/10

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