Columbus Circle

I agree with another reviewer who compared this to a Good Hitchcock Movie; found it to be suspenseful enough to keep me interested in wanting to know more. Maybe I'm not as sophisticated as some movie critics, but to me even mediocre actors can carry a Story, and hold my attention; IMO all the Actors did their 'job' and got the Story told. The 90 or so minutes helps also; so if you can sit through movies on TV or Cable, then you will not be disappointed sitting through this one. Would I pay to see this, or watch it again? No, but I would recommend it to anybody who watches TV drams. Want to add that I use IMDb for every Movie I am interested in, and think the service provided by IMDb is extremely helpful.

A collection of good, underused actors and actresses have been assembled in "Columbus Circle". It's the type of place that is described as anything can happen there. I'll take their word for it. The events that occur in the movie get increasingly far-fetched as we go along, and unfortunately, to the detriment of the enjoyment of the film. An old woman is found dead in her apartment. The simple answer is that it was an accidental fall but the police are there investigating it as a homicide. The main character, Abigail (Selma Blair) lives across the hall. When a detective questions her, we are supposed to believe that is the very first time she has opened her door for anyone. Abigail isn't really Abigail. She's a wealthy heiress who disappeared from home when she was a teenager, never to be seen from or heard from again. Her family doctor (Beau Bridges) is her only confidante, and she communicates via letters with the Columbus Circle doorman. The detective is curious about her because he sees her as a victim. If this were a better film that would have been a very intriguing element. It's not a bad film per se, it's just that the characters that interested us at first start acting in unrealistic ways and we're left scratching our heads over the point of it all. After the old woman's body is removed, Abby wants to buy the place just for her peace of mind, but instead it goes to a young savvy couple (Jason Lee and Amy Smart) who are constantly at physical odds with each other. Apparently, Abby is so distraught over the welfare and safety of her new neighbour that she invites her into her apartment. As you can likely guess a whole host of problems, crimes, double-crossings and shady connections come with her. The actors were all good. The characters could have been good if there was a bit more development. The plot moved fine for its short run time. I was mostly impressed with Jason Lee and Giovanni Ribisi. This is one of Lee's only dramatic ventures in his filmography and it's a great divergence for him. Ribisi played a smart, shrewed and caring detective which is a welcome change to his usual parade of drugged-out dopey teenagers. If the other actors more closely portrayed characters that resembled real people with normal or interesting traits and attributes, then I could have appreciated them too.

A murder of an elderly lady resident in the high rise apartments of Columbus Circle initiates the story. However the death is made to seem to be an unfortunate accident with her falling down a flight of stairs. Despite reservations by detective Frank Giardello (Giovanni Ribisi) the crime is noted as accidental. Opposite the apartment lives reclusive and agoraphobic Abigail (Selma Blair), a sole heir to an immense fortune, but haunted by memories of fatherly abuse. Soon after the death a new couple move opposite Abigail: the beautiful Lilian Hart (Amy Smart) and her abusive partner Charles Stratford (Jason Lee). Intent on igniting claustrophobic tension camera angles sweep and swerve, music circles and entraps, but overall atmosphere appears in short fits to dissipate thanks to an overall terrible performing cast, visibly unconvinced by the story being portrayed. Especially Blari and Smart fail to induce a sense of feasibility, not helped by the wandering script lightening up plot-hole receptors and creating a sense of ever-growing implausibility. The whole story is also overly predictable with clichéd scenes fronted by film school trademark shots completing this unimaginative and borderline repetitive movie. Despite the best Hitchcock inspired intentions "Columbus Circle" requires a high level of gullibility with its occasionally farcical acting.

-Mild Spoilers- Imagine a stupid gal. Not agoraphobic just plain stupid. She had it rough, she has a bag full of money and she refuses to get out of some luxury apartment. She hasn't been seen for 12 years, she hasn't left the apartment during this time, yet in a few days she goes on strolls down to the bank to play the evil "dudess" in a completely failed finale for a completely failed movie. People killing people without fear of obvious evidence left around. People changing identities like dirty socks. Stupid detectives that can't put 2 plus 2 together - what is this garbage? An epic fail! Over and out.

When I accessed the reviews for Columbus Circle, I couldn't believe all the negativity surrounding this production. Apparently, after this was made, there was no studio willing to release it theatrically. It went straight to video. I sometimes don't listen to the multitude of reviews that surround a certain film, preferring to make my own opinion. After viewing this, I found it to be a surprisingly good and watchable film with a good story, good acting and good directing. This was an original story which had a good denouement, very satisfying. I suppose that there was not enough sex and violence in this production to serve the prurient tastes of the mass audience. Tastes have changed much in recent years and I guess that there isn't much of an audience for a film that does not rely on CGI effects or gratuitous sex and violence. I even liked the main title sequence, which would not have been out-of-place on a suspense film made in the fifties or sixties. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I liked this.

source: Columbus Circle

It seems that a lot of users like to bash a movie and talk about how predictable a mystery is, just to show everyone else how smart they are. Talk about what's wrong with the direction even though they don't really know a thing about directing. This is a smart movie with good actors. Some think the villains made illogical and unreasonable choices. Well, most criminals aren't as smart as they think they are and do illogical things when everything starts to unravel. Most criminals aren't smart and don't keep a cool head under pressure. That's why they get caught! This is perceived as a movie about an agoraphobic and everyone is incredulous when she leaves her apartment in the climax. Abigail's doctor has told her she's agoraphobic, but he's in on the con and doesn't want her to have any contact with anyone but him. Remember that she chose to disappear for a reason. She had the privacy she wanted so she had no reason to leave her apartment - and her life was purposefully controlled. People choose fight or flight when threatened. When Abigail comes under extreme threat, she chooses both flight (nowhere to run except OUT of her apartment) and fight (for her fortune without which she could not exist). The doctor's choice of henchmen seems flawed, but what kind of people are you going to get for something like this? First person I would ask would be an ex-con, which by definition is a loser. Greed can fuzzy your thinking. The closer they got to the money, the less logical they became. They kept thinking "just one more person out of the way and we'll have enough money to run where no one can find us". Another user spoke of how dumb the police were. They had already zeroed in on Ray owning both apartments. One user said it was not believable that Abigail was leaving without an identity. She had already transferred her money somewhere. She could by her own plane and pilot. She knew how to disappear - she had done it before. I really liked the acting by Kevin Pollack and Jason Lee. Ribisi always brings a sense of intelligence and also naiveté to his characters. His partner's character could have added humor or at least something with better lines and actor - Samm Levine would have been great as the partner rather than the bank manager.

I agree with another reviewer who compared this to a Good Hitchcock Movie; found it to be suspenseful enough to keep me interested in wanting to know more. Maybe I'm not as sophisticated as some movie critics, but to me even mediocre actors can carry a Story, and hold my attention; IMO all the Actors did their 'job' and got the Story told. The 90 or so minutes helps also; so if you can sit through movies on TV or Cable, then you will not be disappointed sitting through this one. Would I pay to see this, or watch it again? No, but I would recommend it to anybody who watches TV drams. Want to add that I use IMDb for every Movie I am interested in, and think the service provided by IMDb is extremely helpful.

A collection of good, underused actors and actresses have been assembled in "Columbus Circle". It's the type of place that is described as anything can happen there. I'll take their word for it. The events that occur in the movie get increasingly far-fetched as we go along, and unfortunately, to the detriment of the enjoyment of the film. An old woman is found dead in her apartment. The simple answer is that it was an accidental fall but the police are there investigating it as a homicide. The main character, Abigail (Selma Blair) lives across the hall. When a detective questions her, we are supposed to believe that is the very first time she has opened her door for anyone. Abigail isn't really Abigail. She's a wealthy heiress who disappeared from home when she was a teenager, never to be seen from or heard from again. Her family doctor (Beau Bridges) is her only confidante, and she communicates via letters with the Columbus Circle doorman. The detective is curious about her because he sees her as a victim. If this were a better film that would have been a very intriguing element. It's not a bad film per se, it's just that the characters that interested us at first start acting in unrealistic ways and we're left scratching our heads over the point of it all. After the old woman's body is removed, Abby wants to buy the place just for her peace of mind, but instead it goes to a young savvy couple (Jason Lee and Amy Smart) who are constantly at physical odds with each other. Apparently, Abby is so distraught over the welfare and safety of her new neighbour that she invites her into her apartment. As you can likely guess a whole host of problems, crimes, double-crossings and shady connections come with her. The actors were all good. The characters could have been good if there was a bit more development. The plot moved fine for its short run time. I was mostly impressed with Jason Lee and Giovanni Ribisi. This is one of Lee's only dramatic ventures in his filmography and it's a great divergence for him. Ribisi played a smart, shrewed and caring detective which is a welcome change to his usual parade of drugged-out dopey teenagers. If the other actors more closely portrayed characters that resembled real people with normal or interesting traits and attributes, then I could have appreciated them too.

Before watching this movie I wanted to like it. Being a fan of many of the actors in this movie I thought it had the potential to be unknown yet good movie, unfortunately that is not the case. The premise was interesting a murder takes place in the room opposite from a woman with Agoraphobia and hasn't left her apartment in 11 years and from then on the direction of the film follows around this character. From then on the movie starts to fall apart, some of the acting verges on being poor,many of the films concepts become implausible and the films conclusion is just embarrassing. However, the film isn't a complete loss, the story is enough to keep the movie at least quite interesting and is filled with many twists some of which lead to the films finest moments. Also, Kevin Pollak and Giovanni Ribisi put in performances that are at least rather good which is a shame due to their limited screen time. In the end the film is so concerned in throwing as many twists as possible into it that it forgets in how to carry a story and in the end is left in a mess. In my opinion the movie is watchable yet but not good and I would be shocked if anybody were to find this movie anything higher than good. If presented with the opportunity of watching other movies viewers should look into taking a chance elsewhere.