Saw
Saw, the latest in a never ending line of serial killer films, is better than it has any right to be. The film’s budget looks to be about zero, and its cast is rounded out by names whose names you’d be hard pressed to remember once the credits roll. Sure, Saw stars Cary Elwes from The Princess Bride and Danny Glover from the Lethal Weapon “films,” but who else? And yet somehow, James Wan’s first feature film manages to get under your skin, and it’s twist ending, while completely implausible, is quite effective.
In a dark and dirty basement bathroom, two men find themselves chained at the ankle to pipes with a dead body lying between them. The men, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Mr. Elwes) and Adam (Leigh Whannell, who co-wrote the script with Mr. Wan), somehow deduce that they are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer, a man whose calling card is the grizzly dilemma he makes his victims solve before they die. The dilemma before Adam and Dr. Gordon is this: Dr. Gordon must kill Adam, a man he has never met before, or else his wife and child will die. The men are given a cigarette, a gun, and two hacksaws at their disposal and 8 hours to accomplish the goal.
For a film about puzzles, it manages to cover every possible angle and still make absolutely no sense. It has plot holes and gaps in logic so big, semi trucks could easily drive through them. The twist ending would be the best example of both, but I won’t give it away here. As an obsessed cop, Danny Glover’s presence in the film is completely extraneous. His character has nothing essential to do with the film’s plot, so Mr. Glover is stuck with a thankless role where he chases people a lot. The same could be said for Monica Potter, whose role as Dr. Gordon’s wife consists of being tied up and yelling a lot. Every actor needs motivation for a role. In the case of both of these actors, my guess is that the motivation behind their performances was that the rent was due. The film also uses unnecessary flashbacks in order to distract from the fact that the film you’re watching is a two-character stage play with no scenery changes.
With all those points against it, Saw still manages to be better than one would expect. Mostly, that’s because what Mr. Wan makes up for an uneven script with tons of atmosphere. He has shot his first film with a mix of grays and greens that give it a gritty, dirty look. A flashback concerning one of Jigsaw’s other victims is truly creepy, simply due to the contraption Mr. Wan has the killer create to strap to her mouth. He has also created a real tension between Adam and Dr. Gordon that is lost when he chooses to break it with a flashback. I’ve read a large number of reviews that criticize Mr. Elwes performance as either too campy or too vapid, but I think he gives the performance required, no more and no less. As Adam, the wisecracking Mr. Whannell gets all the good lines, but the occasional humor helps to ease the tension.
Saw is not a great movie, but it’s a decent film if you are willing to take the good with the bad. I have been asked a couple of times by people if this film is any good, and I always answer with a half-hearted yes. Like an old house with fix-up potential, Saw is a film on which I am still undecided. It has a lot to recommend, but it’s got so many distractions, that it’s hard to give the filmmakers credit for what they manage to get right. If you’re just looking for entertainment on a Saturday night, you could do worse. Just don’t look too deep—you may not like what you see.
Submitted 10 November 04. Posted 23 December 04.
