Perfect Sense (2011) Reviews

• A very simple review

  sjbriggs-12012-12-09

  There's no point rehashing what many of the other reviews say. I will tell you the one thing that matters: I've only ever cried over 3 movies, 1st when ET died (I was like 8), 2nd at the end of Ice Castles (again, I think I was 8 -- bad year), and finally at the end of this movie. I cried for 30 minutes. Then my wife wanted to watch the ending again because she missed something and I cried again. I don't know why this movie touched me so deeply but it did. You feel for the characters, you fear for what happens next. When the screen goes blank at the end, you fear for what will become of them. This was a powerful film and I highly recommend it.

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• Strong film

  synevy2011-12-30

  I wouldn't want to say a lot about the story. Perfect Sense is a film you have to see, taste, smell, listen. It's not a Contagion - like movie, it's not a zombie one either, but it could definitely be a post - apocalyptic reality check. We could, but we wouldn't want to imagine something like that happening, yet again "what if". How strong is the human heart and mind and how could we adapt in such a massive change? This film might suggest a hint. Ewan McGregor plays a chef that somehow gets involved with Eva Green, a scientist. Then, all that matters is how these two characters cope with an epidemic that bursts, depriving people their senses. I found this film quite enlightening, the performances intense, the music appropriate and, last but not least, the photography/ filming magnificent. Great work from the director David Mackenzie. The end was mind blowing, for me. Keep an open mind, look at the big picture and it'll be worth your time.

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• The Most Terrifying Film I've seen in Years!

  giggedyguy2011-12-29

  Yes, it's a romantic film. There's a lot of light-hearted stuff in the mix. But the concept of what inevitably will happen and the events mapping the way were frightening to me. I had a very present fear that the same thing could happen to me, silly as that sounds. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach at the end. My roommate and I watched this and Contagion on the same night. Compared to this, Contagion was a let down and almost boring--not denying that it was a really good film, it just wasn't as polished. Perfect Sense had so much STYLE and kept us glued to the screen. It was so entertaining! I think it's my favorite "world might be ending" movie of all time. I've never been so satisfied by a film of this genre before.

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• Quite an Eye opener

  tharun_mohan2011-09-27

  I don't know where to start, but it was quite an eye opener, since civilization began there are certain things that we take for granted, The basic things like our senses you will only realise it when you lose them.... as they say "Perhaps only in a world of the blind will things be what they truly are".. To understand the true beauty of life, you need to know what being alive is all about. After watching the movie I felt that it answered some of my questions... I think everyone should watch this movie... you might find it a bit slow phased but believe me it's a ride worth going for.... Ewan McGregor has done a marvellous job and so did Eva Green, the direction is flawless and it moves like poetry. Please watch this movie....

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• Richer Fabric

  Fideist712011-01-26

  When I read the synopsis for _Perfect Sense_, I was expecting an apocalyptic romance. I was wrong. Such a description is too neat. This is more than escapist entertainment. It is an experience to be savored. Its story is deceptively simple. It weaves a richer fabric than any casual touch will detect. Those who think its central device capricious (the disease and its development) give themselves too much credit for discerning the logic of their own lives. An illness may seem to follow no obvious or satisfying plot, but who can say whether any "misfortune" fails to follow a narrative too subtle for the prejudice of those who feel injured by it? Those who require every story to have a tidy, forensic resolution, with an indictable perpetrator for every ordeal, on whom they can unleash their outrage in order to achieve "closure," are the victims of their own narrow interpretation. Most pain is not conspiracy. The shared affliction of this story is poetic metaphor; however, like most good art, this film is about its characters, not its literary devices. The cast's performances are not only authentic, they are illuminating; particularly Ewan McGregor's and Eva Green's central couple. Were they mere victims, their story would be hopeless tragedy. Instead, theirs is the account of an ordinary and vulnerable man and woman with extraordinary resilience, who attack, then embrace each other, stumbling over their circumstances as they learn to transcend them. **A Brief Response to ArizWldcat's One-star Review** If those at the premiere who asked questions after the screening (during the Q&A) are a representative sample of the audience, few of Mr. Mackenzie's viewers got the "point" of his film. One person asked the director what message or meaning he hoped we, his audience, would take from his film. He looked nonplussed at this question. He responded that the viewer had to answer that for himself. It seems that Mr./Ms. ArizWldcat was one of those who expected this film to be easily categorized and to reaffirm a specific, pre-determined view of the world, such as a feel-good romance or a psychological thriller. The guy gets the girl and they save the world in the process, all portrayed through a predictably formulaic sequence of events. Everyone lives happily ever after. By those prerequisites, we would also be forced to give _Hamlet_ or _Citizen Kane_ one out of ten stars. _Perfect Sense_ is a film whose "point" is not to make its audience comfortable or to provide the adrenaline buzz of a "thriller." Its purpose is to portray authentic human experience in an impossible situation. It did so admirably. It is one of the most hopeful films I have ever seen.

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