That Old Swamp Magic

Kate Hudson takes a job caring for a paralysed John Hurt in 2005's The Skeleton Key. If she'd seen Dark Waters or Sister, Sister or any number of movies in which an innocent young lady goes to live in a large house deep in the Louisiana bayou, she might've thought twice about taking the job. But she straps in for all the familiar twists and turns in this predictable, formulaic thriller that's nonetheless moderately entertaining.

Peter Sarsgaard plays an estate lawyer who takes Hudson to the property where she meets Hurt along with his wife, played by Gena Rowlands.

Hudson starts to suspect something's up when Rowlands won't explain the absence of mirrors throughout the house. Rowlands gives Hudson a skeleton key and soon she's exploring every nook and cranny of the place, discovering a secret Hoodoo room in the attic.

The usual skittery editing and intermittent sepia tones are used for bits about the house's past which includes a couple witch doctor servants. The film ends up making a commentary on racism oddly reminiscent of Get Out.

Most of the interiors feel like soundstages although parts of the film were apparently shot at a real Louisiana plantation. Kate Hudson is fine as an average young woman. John Hurt manages to deliver a good performance despite being paralyzed most of the time.

She Takes a Kid

A little boy's family is murdered by the mob and it's up to one tough dame to keep him safe in 1980's Gloria. Gena Rowlands gives a good performance as the title character and her husband, John Cassavetes, capably loads the first part of the film with tense excitement. But as events swiftly become less probable, the film becomes less and less satisfying.

Who is Gloria? Why is she so cool under pressure, how come she's so good with a gun? She finally explains to the kid, Phil (John Adames), that she's "friends" with the very mobsters that gunned down his parents and sister.

Immediately, a car full of mobsters rolls up and ask Gloria what she's doing. She immediately guns down the whole car load of them, causing the car to flip over when they try to get away. It's one of many moments in the film that feels like the filmmakers were making things up as they went along.

As Gloria continually establishes herself as a flawless, morally pure killing machine, I found myself wondering just what she did for the mob that left her in this condition. Even less plausible is the fact that she and the kid are able to book tickets and get hotel rooms after we see her and the kids' pictures are all over the news, naming her as a kidnapper.

Rowlands' performance is charismatic and fun so, even if the film is ultimately meaningless fluff, it is mostly entertaining.