PREMONITION

Linda is happily married to Jim, has two daughters, lives in a beautiful house, and leads a carefree and joyful life. An ideal life, Linda's, destined to change drastically one morning when a police officer knocks on her door and informs her that her husband, Jim, has had a car accident and died on the spot. Linda falls into depression and sees her life shatter, but something strange lurks around the corner: the next morning, Linda notices that Jim is still alive and is cheerfully having breakfast in the kitchen just like every morning. The woman is led to believe that it was all just a bad dream, but the reality is quite different, and from that moment, Linda's days of the week begin to alternate without any logic, and she discovers that the day of Jim's accident has yet to come... With "Premonition," we are faced with a supernatural thriller that could easily be interpreted as a film about time travel and, why not, as a distant relative of the Bill Murray comedy "Groundhog Day." Just like in Harold Ramis's film, where Bill Murray realized every morning, at the sound of the alarm clock, that he was reliving the same day, we have the protagonist Linda who, every morning, finds herself living a new day of the week without following any chronological order; she frequently makes incursions into the future days of the week only to return to past days, all within the week when the tragic car accident that will take her husband's life occurs. It will be a race against and with time for Linda, as she tries to change fate to save her husband's life. The idea behind "Premonition," it must be admitted, is not bad at all, as it relies on a theme (trying to change past events) that, in one way or another, intrigues and captivates almost everyone. Moreover, some excellent elements in the subject manage to make the product even original. A more than valid starting point, therefore, which had strong reasons to lead the audience to hope for something good. Unfortunately, all these hopes are bitterly betrayed due to significant flaws mainly related to unfortunate choices made during the screenplay's writing. The film's script does not lend itself to easy and gratuitous criticism, as it appears quite professional and elaborate in the sense that, at the end of the viewing, every piece finds its rightful place, offering a fairly clear overall picture that leaves no room for annoying unanswered questions. However, while the script may be exempt from criticism from a professional point of view, it is far from immune from a content perspective, as, especially in the ending, it succumbs to a sea of clichés and commonplace ideas that completely undermine the creativity that the plot aspired to. Among the many clichés, the one that perhaps feels the "heaviest" is related to the characterization of intra-family relationships, which are built around many well-known and entirely predictable tropes (the classic happy family, apparently, but with deep fractures due to a relationship about to end because of infidelity). The situation is not saved, but rather worsened considerably, by a messy ending under the guise of a happy ending which, although not entirely "happy," succumbs in the final minutes to excessively sentimental tones that are entirely out of place, granting the film unnecessary and inappropriate sentimentalism. A necessary critique must also be directed at the cast, which is truly unconvincing. The film's protagonists are the perpetually disappointing Sandra Bullock ("The Net," "Murder by Numbers") and the expressionless Julian McMahon (Dr. Doom from "Fantastic Four"). Both actors appear extremely disoriented and entirely unmotivated, as if they couldn't wait for the filming to end. However, there are supporting characters who deliver solid performances, such as the always excellent but significantly underrated Peter Stormare ("8mm"; "Bruiser," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park") here playing Dr. Norman Roth. In conclusion, "Premonition" is a very disappointing thriller that had great potential to create something innovative and enjoyable but, due to many naiveties, clichés, and a truly poor ending, turns out to be a bland and uninspiring film destined to leave a bitter taste and be forgotten as quickly as possible. It should be noted that the rating, seemingly generous, has been rounded up. It certainly deserves half a point less.