By Brett Blake 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is not the movie you think it is. Its marketing push has been specifically designed to elicit certain expectations on the part of the audience, and while these expectations may be - more or less - met by what the movie offers, it’s still not quite the film that has been sold. That is not to say the rather coy and mysterious ad campaign has misrepresented the film (because it really hasn’t), only that certain elements have been left deliberately ambiguous in ways that viewers may not find agreeable after they see the movie. But is the movie itself any good? Absolutely! 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is a tight and engaging thriller, one that presents interesting direction, well-drawn characters, and fine performances in the service of a consistently engrossing tale that works as a mystery on several levels. With a setup that owes a bit to MISERY, the movie follows Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a young woman who is rescued from a serious car accident by Howard (John Goodman), a “doomsday prepper” type living in an underground bunker; he explains that there has been a vast biological and/or chemical attack (perpetrated by malevolent parties unknown) that has left the outside world uninhabitable. Along with Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), a young man also staying in the bunker, Michelle begins to question how much of Howard’s story is true, and whether or not he might be a far more unhinged and dangerous individual than she could have ever thought. The script plays with mystery as an idea; it gets you questioning what’s really going on, and whether or not Goodman’s character is truly nuts or is on the level… or whether those two things are actually mutually exclusive in the first place. The screenplay could almost be a case study in the ways you can mine effective drama out of human interactions in pressurized situations, and much of the movie’s (often incredibly effective) tension comes from the ways the three central characters either work together or find themselves at odds. By any objective measure, Mary Elizabeth Winstead should be a major star by this point, and her work in this film is further evidence of that. She creates a capable and resourceful character who is also in touch with her own vulnerability in ways that don’t ever make her seem weak, but rather fundamentally human and rounded. She’s fully relatable, and through body language - and her incredibly expressive eyes - Winstead is able to communicate far more about the character’s inner life and emotional state than she does through her dialogue. John Gallagher Jr. gets to play the most upbeat and affable of the three lead characters, and he’s fun, bringing just the right amount of small town, “aw shucks,” good guy charm to the role. This is enriched by the sense that the guy is just a little bit on the dim side, and perhaps doesn’t fully grasp the seriousness of his predicament until it’s almost too late to do anything about it. And then there’s John Goodman. He’s always had strong dramatic chops, but he’s REALLY playing against type this time out as he tears into a meaty and imposing role. He absolutely aces it, and instead of turning the character into a cartoon creation, Goodman plays the menacing undercurrents in a very real way. There’s no ham to be found, no scenery chewing, and Goodman keeps the character real-world threatening at every turn. There’s an equally sad quality to the man, too, which nicely compliments his more sinister angles. It is one of the best performances Goodman’s ever given. All of the technical specifications are terrific. Dan Trachtenberg’s direction keeps what is primarily one location visually compelling throughout, using framing and lighting to give each scene - and every nook and cranny of the bunker - a distinct feel; we are never bored of the surroundings. Aiding this are the minimalist production design (which heightens the closed-off, claustrophobic elements of the tale) and the detail-rich set decoration (which visually illustrates so much about Goodman’s character and background). The sound design is powerful and - at times - frightening, and Bear McCreary’s score is certifiably great; melodic without being lyrical, it is almost a quintessential mystery score. It keeps the audience tuned in to the unusual narrative turns with equal parts dark ambiance and motif writing; were it not for some cool, peculiar instrumentation, it feels like a score that could be been written in the early 1980s, and I mean that in the very best way. Now, it’s almost impossible to talk about 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE without addressing the issue of its relationship to 2008’s giant monster/”found footage” hit, CLOVERFIELD. Both films share the same production company (Bad Robot), same producer (J.J. Abrams), same distributor (Paramount Pictures), and same mysterious ad campaign approach that plays things very close to the vest in an effort to preserve surprises for the viewer. Plus, the presence of the word “Cloverfield,” by no means a common fixture among movie titles, suggests right up front that the two films share a connection of some sort. I’m not going to confirm or deny that in this review, but it has to be acknowledged that the movie is inviting you to make that connection because of the various factors mentioned; it’s inviting the audience to see it as a companion piece of sorts to the 2008 film, and the degree to which you think that’s justified by the finished product will perhaps greatly influence whether you deem 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE to be a success or a failure. There is also the issue of the way in which the movie is structured, and how that structure impacts its third act. It is in the third act that things almost fly off the rails, as we’re treated to a finale that feels like it was stitched onto the end of this film from a completely different story. It mostly works, but it’s a curveball that expands the scope and scale of the movie in ways that threaten to compromise the integrity of its contained first and second acts. I say all that as a preamble to this: I think it’s disappointing that neither the filmmakers - whose conscious creative and marketing choices have linked the two movies - nor the audience - whose expectations for the movie may not be totally fair - are really allowing the movie to exist on its own terms. Whatever links there may or may not be to CLOVERFIELD, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is first and foremost a tight and engaging little TWILIGHT ZONEian thriller, and on that level alone, divorced from the baggage, it’s a tremendously entertaining time at the movies. As of this writing, it’s one of 2016’s best films.
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