The Alternate Ending Movie Review: I Know Who Killed Me
Posted by Dave Tomlinson on 07.30.2007
Lindsay Lohan should have Known better.
The Film:
To say that “I Know Who Killed Me” is a bad movie might be something of an oversimplification. By no means is it good, but… well, I dunno, call me a sucker for Lindsay Lohan as a stripper. I never thought I’d be the guy to rush to confirmed bimbo Lohan’s defense, but I’ve read nothing but bad review after bad review, and I really didn’t hate it. So what better way to come back after a two month absence then to review a theatrical movie this time instead of a DVD (God and my schedule willing I’ll be back with a review for “Hot Fuzz” or “300” in a few days).
One of the things the flick gets right is showing the dichotomy of two worlds, in some ways light years apart, while being only a few miles distance from each other. Dakota Moss is an underage stripper in a sleazy club in the suitably grimy inner-city. Aubrey Flemming, meanwhile is a high school senior in the posh suburb of New Salem, with a real flair for writing stories about a girl who has had a pretty rough life that mirrors Dakota. The gag of course is that Aubrey and Dakota look like the same girl. Aubrey is on the fast track, she’s been accepted early to Yale, is something of a piano prodigy and has little time or patience for her horn dog boyfriends attempts to get in her pants. Dakota meanwhile is just trying to survive in what she calls the real world, but we see that the hopeless existence of grinding on a pole is slowly making her soul dead.
Aubrey suddenly goes missing, under the same circumstances as two other rich white girls from her area. Her parents and the whole of the police are understandably motivated to find her before she turns up dead in the same gruesome manner as the first two victims. When she is found she claims to have no idea who “this Aubrey chick” is and insists her name is Dakota and that her mother was a crack addict who died a few years ago. The police think she’s lying, the shrink thinks she’s delusional and Aubrey’s parents just want their daughter back. Meanwhile, Dakota/Aubrey just wants to know what happened to her.
I’d probably be a little remiss if I didn’t mention the “torture-porn” aspect of this movie. I really haven’t made up my mind about this particular genre. On the one hand, I find it overly exploitative and something of a crutch for sub par movies to lean on. Plus I’m not very good at watching the close ups of horrific mutilation, earning me something of a “sissy” label from a few of my movie going friends. On the other hand, there have been some really well made movies in the field recently. The first “Saw” and “Hostel” are really great movies that would suffer if not shown at their most graphic. I’m digressing, but check out Trevor Snyder’s column on these very ideas from a few weeks ago. He hits most of the same points I’ve thought about.
In the end, what we have here is a pretty promising premise with a flawed exection. Is Dakota really a different person? Did Aubrey just invent her for a story and now she’s diving into her own creation? Is it long lost twins or a severe case of multiple personality disorder? In the hands of a better story teller this might have been something special too. There are some impressive plays made. Aubrey is always shown in blue while Dakota always wears red. The usage of flowers blooming and wilting, and the overbearing presence of an owl hooting really do make for some interesting imagery. Sadly… we do not have a talented story teller. I don’t’ know if the blame can be assigned to director Chris Sivertson or writer Jeff Hammond, but points that could have greatly benefited from finesse or subtlety are made with sledge hammers. Well after 90 minutes of being beaten with it, I started to get a head ache. What really blows me away is Julia Ormond’s turn as Aubrey’s mother. Ormond’s career here-to-fore doesn’t really include roles like this and I’m blown away she took the part.Lohan gives a decent performance, but we all know she’s capable of better. Anyone who watched “A Prairie Home Companion” or “Mean Girls” knows this girl has miles of potential, but she’s wasting them on booze and partying. Now usually I try to separate the art from the artist, as I could really care less about her personal life. But one has to wonder if her recent (maybe not so recent) pharmaceutical indulgences might be having an effect on her acting prowess.
The 411: I take less issue with a bad movie that suffers from being too ambitious than I do with just a plain old bad movie. In someone else’s hands, this could have been something special. As is we have a story that I really was getting into until being kicked in the balls by the preposterous ending. Split the difference and call it average, but I’d wait for it to show up on cable. And a note to those hoping for some full frontal from Lohan will be disappointed, all we get is some Peter Griffin approved “sideboob”. Though personally I find the constant close ups of her crotch in too-tight panties to be far more obscene and embarassing than bare boobs could have been.
