Mile High Cinema

It’s not surprising an early version of Danny Boyle’s latest was first proposed to him back in 1994 after the overnight success of his debut feature Shallow Grave, an easy film essentially made of Hitchcockian warm-up exercises in suspense and twist. Now finally produced, Trance still bears a lot in common with that elementary hobbyhorse and conceitedly performs those same rudimentary calisthenics while a seasoned Boyle holds his breath just for show. Like Hitchcock, Boyle has proven he can suffuse most any genre with his signature style—admittedly just as modern as the “Master of Suspense” although far less original—that typically displays propulsive music-driven editing and against-all-odds surprises punctuated with evasive violence. But unlike Hitchcock, Boyle is determined after four reels teeming with vice to practice virtue in the fifth through suspiciously smooth and saccharine endings that confuse the palette after such a grainy main course.

With useless voiceover exposition, Trance’s opening sequence introduces a piece of priceless art while the ensuing fuss will hide which character really wants it for no better reason than just cause, really. That art is Goya’s “Witches in the Air” under surveillance by Simon (James McAvoy), a fine art auctioneer who’s in cahoots with Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his gang to steal the painting in order to pay off Simon’s gambling debts. For unknown reasons, Simon takes his cover too seriously and jeopardizes the operation mid-heist resulting in the butt of Franck’s assault rifle to the head that leaves him unconscious while Franck escapes with the prize. Or so he thought. Somewhere along the line, the painting has been cut from its frame and hidden somewhere Simon can’t remember due to the amnesia brought on by the blow. To get his own share of money, Franck must tease its location out of Simon’s glitchy brain, which leads him to force Simon into hypnotherapy from Dr. Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson).

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