Dead Again (1991)

British thespian and sophomore director Kenneth Branagh follows up his adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V with this abrupt change of pace, a slick, stylish thriller evocative of Hitchcock, classic film noir, and gothic shockers. Sporting an exaggerated American accent, Branagh stars as L.A. private eye Mike Church, a hard-boiled but softhearted detective who takes on the case of a mysterious amnesiac (Branagh's then-real-life wife, Emma Thompson). With the help of an offbeat furniture dealer and part-time hypnotist (Derek Jacobi), Grace (as Mike has named her) dredges up her hidden memories. Little do they realize that her recollections are of a past life in L.A.'s recent history, and as she recounts the details of a famous marriage that ended with a notorious murder (played out as black-and-white flashbacks starring Branagh and Thompson), events of the present begin to mirror the past, as if fate were pulling the two into fatal replay of history. Branagh's flashy, flourished direction echoes with an array of '40s and '50s classics and near classics (most notably Hitchcock's Rebecca and Spellbound) and drives the story with an edgy urgency, all the better to distract from some of the sillier elements of the plot. But while this film may not make literal sense in the harsh light of day, in the twilit, shadowy world of classic Hollywood this slyly inventive thriller is a bravura bit of old-fashioned entertainment, done up with modern flair. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Suspenseful Love Story, one of my favorites

I had never heard of this movie until last week. I love it! It is now one of my favorite movies. I will definitely watch it again. Kenneth is great. My husband is a fan of his, but not of love stories. My husband thinks his performance is excellent! I am a big fan of Emma Thompson and she is great as usual. If you like suspense mixed with love, this is for you. If you like Gaslight with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman, then you will like Dead Again. February 22, 2008

Stylish, Satisfying Suspense

Accomplished British actors Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson (his wife at the time this film was made), the always fascinating Derek Jacobi, and in supporting roles, Andy Garcia, German actress Hanna Schygulla, and Robin Williams, round out a stellar cast that, by itself, would make this film worth your time. They give this intriguing story of the turn of karmic wheels energy and charm. I must say that I find the review featured on Amazon by "The New Yorker" to be incomprehensible and so wide of the mark that the magazine might have been reviewing a different film. When I saw this film in New York City, audiences applauded enthusiastically at the end.

In addition to its terrific cast, "Dead Again" is well-written, fast-paced, and stylishly produced - it was also directed by its star, Branagh. It weaves together two stories of what at first seems like two distinct pairs of lovers: foreign-born conductor Roman Strauss and his pianist-wife Margaret in the post-war 1940s, and Los Angeles private investigator Mike Church and an amnesiac who cannot remember who she is in the 1990s. Both pairs of lovers are played by Branagh and Thompson. As Church and the amnesiac try to figure out why she cannot remember who she is, and why she is terrified of scissors, they keep bumping up against the forty-year mystery of Margaret's murder, for which Roman was convicted and executed. Also interested in untangling the increasingly apparent overlap between the past and the present are a slightly sinister antiques dealer with a talent for hypnosis (Jacobi), and journalist Andy Garcia, now an ancient wreck in a nursing home, who once knew both Roman and Margaret. Robin Williams makes the most of a small role as an eccentric ex-psychiatrist (unfrocked for sleeping with one of his patients) now working as a stockboy for a supermarket, whose experiences with a former patient begin to convince the doubting Church that the past may indeed be seeping into the present.

The conclusion of the film, with its unexpected twist, drew exclamations from the audience I saw this film with. The overlapping stories are woven tightly together, there isn't a boring moment in the movie, the characters are all sharply drawn, and the catchy, propulsive score is by Patrick Doyle (who also did fine scores for Branagh's "Henry V", for "Indochine", and the remake of "The End of the Affair"). The opinion of the venerable "The New Yorker" notwithstanding (perhaps it's a bit too venerable to see beyond its snobbist pseudo-intellectualism), this is an enjoyable and well-constructed suspense film. January 30, 2008

Great Mystery Movie!

I am a huge fan of anything by Kenneth Branagh (another good one to see is: 'How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog')so when I saw this movie, I of course gave it a shot. This movie has a great twist and is beautifully acted. Both Emma & Kenneth do a wonderful job of American accents. If you like the mystery genre this is one you must see! January 20, 2008

Dead Again - Dead Silly

I'm somewhat of a Branagh and Thompson fan but I'm surprised anyone could possibly enjoy this silly film. I don't know whatever came over Branagh and Thompson to partake. Jacobi, as a dodgy antique dealer who hypnotizes people was bad enough but, when he took his subjects into past lives to find their antiques, it just got ridiculous.

Very little that the main actors did was convincing and much of it was irrelevant and confusing to the plot. The switching of accents was as farcical as it was incompetent - ditto, the constant flash backs in black and white.

If the movie, and the story, were consistently awful, the finale excelled. Even "Pirates of the Caribbean" tried to give rationale to characters being fatally shot, and stabbed, but still fighting on. Was it only the crazed operatic accompaniment in "Dead Again" that finally caused them to be all "Dead Again?" For how long one asked?

Emma Thompson, whose portrayal of a dying cancer victim in "Wit" was so poignantly beautiful, must be deeply embarrassed when she thinks back on this movie. She certainly wouldn't want to watch it a second time - nor would I - the first was bad enough.
July 25, 2007

A Minority Report

This minority report says that DEAD AGAIN could have been, but is not, a great film. DEAD AGAIN was obviously made as a loving parody of the Hitchcock/film noir genre, because some scenes, camera work and music are so broad that the tongue positively sticks through the cheek. However, much of the movie is played straight, and thus, overall, the tone is confused. My minority report says that the American accents of Branagh and Thompson, both superb British actors, were not convincing. In fact, their efforts to sound American in their modern "incarnations" caused their acting to suffer. Branagh thinks that to sound American is to be a Noo Yawkuh (sorta), and Thompson is so busy trying to sound Amurik'n that her character lacks luster, even taking into account that the character is a victim of amnesia walking around in a perpetual state of hyper-vigilance, caution, confusion and/or dread. Similarly, I disagree that the performance of Robin Williams was good. His character was creepy for no particular reason, although one sinister close-up of him looking back at our protagonists hints at some darker purpose, which is never revealed. Just another "fake out" in the service of phony film noir suspense.

Yes, the film has a very clever plot twist at the end. But my minority report has a serious bone to pick with those reviewers who feel that DEAD AGAIN holds up on second viewing, once you know the secret: A major flaw involves the sloppy use of flashbacks in the form of hypnotic regressions that are performed on Branagh or Thompson by Derek Jacobi's antique dealer-hypnotist. Although ostensibly coming from either Branagh's or Thompson's hypnosis session, the flashbacks frequently reveal both their actions, even when they're separated from each other at the time. For example, during one of Branagh's hypnosis sessions, he recalls being inside at a party, having a conversation with another man, while simultaneously somehow recalling Thompson and Garcia outside having a conversation in the garden. It's impossible for Branagh to have been in two places at once. He couldn't possibly have heard or seen the interaction between Thompson and Garcia that is supposed to be a product of his own memory. The audience thus receives more information than it logically should. This method of plot exposition is fundamentally flawed.

And somebody please explain to me how a person that's been stabbed deeply in the knee with a sharp pair of scissors can still walk, or how somebody who's been shot at close range in the left side of the chest can revive themselves sufficiently to fight on and survive.

Add up these annoying inconsistencies and deficiencies (and others I won't bother to list here), and place them side by side with the earnest and committed work of otherwise excellent actors. You end up with a 3-star movie: entertaining in a campy, kitschy kind of way, but not great, as it might have been. See the film if you love the actors, but be prepared to be disappointed. May 19, 2007

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