Wicker Park
(2004)
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An intense psychological thriller about a man caught in an obsessive search for a woman he fell in love with – a woman who then vanished without a trace. Two years after her disappearance, he catches a fleeting glimpse of her in a local bar and begins a twisting search to find her and discover what really happened. |
This American take on Gilles Mimouni's L'Appartement successfully retains the Hitchcockian thrills of the original, lifting it above the average Hollywood romantic drama. And with more than a hint of the identity issues that Hitchcock explored in Vertigo and as many twists and turns as The Big Sleep, it provides plenty of emotional wreckage en route. On the eve of a business trip to China, Matthew (Josh Hartnett) catches a fleeting glimpse of old flame Lisa (Troy's Diane Kruger), who mysteriously disappeared from his life a few years earlier. Postponing his trip and abandoning his fiancée, Matthew determines to track Lisa down, only to discover the woman he saw is really someone else (Rose Byrne). But this lady has her own agenda, and is on the point of starting a relationship with Matthew's friend Luke (played by a scene-stealing Matthew Lillard). Convoluted though this plot may seem, at least the inventive visuals from Gangster No 1 director Paul McGuigan keep you engrossed.