The Forgotten Movie About Forgetting

Did you see 2023's Hypnotic? Have you even heard of it? It stars Ben Affleck and was directed by Robert Rodriguez, it cost 65 million dollars and made 8.7 million. I guess that's no surprise since it doesn't seem to have had much promotion. It's not a bad movie, it's just not great. Which is too bad because we need more movies like this.

Affleck plays a cop named Rourke who's trying to cope with the fact that his young daughter was kidnapped and is still missing months later. His therapy session is interrupted by a tip off about a bank heist.

He watches as one man (William Fichtner) seemingly hypnotises passersby with single words or simple phrases to infiltrate the bank. But what he wants to steal is just a safety deposit box containing a picture of Rourke's daughter.

The ensuing plot will remind the viewer of Videodrome, Total Recall, and Inception, all of which are better films. Rodriguez competently strings action scenes together but the movie lacks a sense of personality. Casting someone with more eccentric mannerisms than Affleck would've helped. All of Rodriguez's best movies have featured heroes who are intriguing or charismatic in their own rights--Affleck just isn't that here. Again, it's too bad, because I very much like what turns out to be a concept of a man's apparent pursuit for something being a subconsciously calculated veneer designed to hide something. I can see how this movie could have been great. As it is, it's just okay. Alice Braga is good as the love interest.

X Sonnet #1729

The solar panels gulped the yellow paste.
Abundant joy has burdened bulky goats.
"Return to bed," accountants cry for waste.
But vodka vapour numbs the lizard throats.
The capybara's teeth were jammed with cake.
Ascending steps were wrought of mossy stone.
Approaching storms derail the rusty brake.
Remember trees the next you see a bone.
At nine again, the choking choc'late came.
But butchers wait for empty days to cut.
It gets so gummy cakes won't bear a name.
And frosting breaks the shelves for useless glut.
The man of yarn again attempts to walk.
The dame of dreams approached a door to knock.