Director: Mauro Borrelli
Writer: Reggie Keyohara III
Stars: John Malkovich, Martin Lawrence, Melissa Roxburgh
There are tried and true tropes that grab the viewer's attention and don't let up. An elaborately staged crime scene? You have my attention. A rookie police officer paired with an old stand-in scarred by a case in his past? Definitely. Cops interviewing a serial killer locked up for his thoughts on another killer in their midst? Yes please.
When mixed up and thrown away like Scrabble letters, these formulas often become coherent, if not convincing, except in the case of "Mindcage."
Directed by Mario Borrelli and written by Reggie Keyohara III, “Mindcage” tells the story of cops Jake Doyle and Mary Kelly as they investigate elegantly staged murders of women sculpted and posed as angels in death.
The Artist is not particularly eager to help the cop who put him behind bars, but he is willing to negotiate to have his sentence commuted; therefore, the three come to an agreement.
Don't be fooled into thinking that "Mindcage" is trying to say something, anything, about the nature of murderers or violence towards women or even God or organized religion. Although "Mindcage" references all of these themes, he is hardly interested in any of them as an actual concept. Does the killer go after these women, most of them sex workers, because he believes they are sinful by nature? Why does Jake keep a book on exorcisms in his glove compartment? And why is there an armed bum following Mary? And what, if anything, does all of this have to do with Malkovich's stoic, goofy "artist" who mostly sits, records, and talks in riddles?
As heroes of our story, both Lawrence and Roxburgh are way out of their respective leagues. Although Lawrence is a worthy talent and a memorable part of many of his films, he can't compromise with the tortured seriousness of Jake, who is underdeveloped and underdeveloped, and his trauma is reduced by showing him swallowing handfuls of white pills.
Roxburgh's Mary, on the other hand, is a tough nut to crack: she's the dogged cop on the rise, always striving to prove that she deserves better than the dismissive treatment of her co-workers. But she has a strange boyfriend back home whose devout religion and creepy habits make him the movie's biggest red herring. It's hard to believe that she's the cop she wants to be known for when the most suspicious guy in the world lives in her house.
"Mindcage" is complete of silly dialogue: the prison warden asks Mary if she has a medical degree, to which she replies, "No, just a master's degree in common sense." - and ridiculous clues. At times, it almost feels as if Borrelli is going for a “Da Vinci Code” type narrative, that all the Bible-aligned signs and symbols will turn into something profoundly divine or terrifyingly profane. The answer, despite the story's many twists and turns, is unfortunately something far more silly and unsatisfying. While there's plenty of fun trying to put the movie together, the mystery of it is too over-the-top and understated to invoke a legitimate sense of satisfaction.
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