I, Anna (2012)

I, Anna tells the story of a blossoming relationship between a middle-aged divorcee and a Chief Inspector investigating a murder. The two meet near the crime scene and the detective quickly finds himself enamored with this charming woman. As our story unfolds, it soon becomes clear that Anna is not the woman that she appears to be.This movie is a slow-burner that takes a little bit of patience to get into. Once the movie picks up momentum though, it is a rather enjoyable experience. The acting of the two leads is great, I'd expect nothing less from these two. And the presence of Eddie Marsan is appreciated, he's wonderful as always. These great actors, combined with a wonderful backdrop (I really felt the London-ness of it all), a good soundtrack, and a serviceable direction by Southcombe, make this movie work on some level.The twist was something that I saw coming. The fact that we never see her daughter/granddaughter interact with anybody but Anna or that when we see Anna walking the stroller, we never get a view of the baby, made me realize that something was clearly amiss. As it becomes clear that Anna is our murderer, it was easy to tell that Anna had some type of psychological issue. I think Southcombe could have done with out the stroller-walking scene and made the twist a tad less obvious.It's not a perfect movie but as far as neo-noirs go, there are a ton of terrible ones out there that this one far surpasses. It's nice to see the noir genre get an older female femme fatale who doesn't meet the stereotype of the archetype.

Super slow start & middle and with predictable end. I only got through it because I was working on an art project whilst "watching/listening"... I can watch anything with Rampling, but this nearly disproved that theory. More than anything the film with its sluggish pace and obviousness of plot twists. The cop was like Peter Falk playing Columbo. It was comic how he seemed to be stumbling around. In fact, overall the photography was terrific. It was the script that made it the story cumbersome, self-indulgent and obvious. If only the camera didn't love Rampling's face so much, her expressive eyes... I would have stopped after 10 minutes.

This is one of those trick flicks that tosses out multiple characters with multiple stories making you think it will all come together at some point. Ha Ha! You won't find that here!The most this flick gives is a few artsy views of London made all moody with overcast skies. The story jumps around, cops race around, Anna is forever on the move with that fractured wrist. And just what was that teenage guy up to? It's never made clear.Loose ends throughout. But I stuck with it thinking it would all come together.By the end of the movie you want to just scream "JUMP - PLEASE"!

Any film starring Charlotte Rampling is worth watching just for her presence alone - even after nearly fifty years in the movies, she still adds an enigmatic quality that's hard to define.She is very much centre stage in "I, Anna". Not so surprising really, it was directed by her son, Barnaby Southcombe, who, it must be said, directed his mum in some pretty challenging scenes.The story is complex and hard to follow. Although it does make more sense by the end, it isn't by much. It is also a film that may have visited the "is it real or is it just imagined" plot one time too many.The story has a number of strands that eventually wind together. Anna Welles (Charlotte Rampling) is searching for a relationship through a speed-dating club run by Louise (Caroline Catz). She lives with her daughter, Emmy (Hayley Atwell) and baby grand daughter - or does she?Gabriel Byrne as policeman, DCI Bernie Reid, is investigating the murder of a middle-aged man in a high-rise apartment. During the course of his investigation, he meets Anna in the apartment building, but later, she doesn't remember the occasion at all. Reid follows Anna and joins the dating club to make contact with her.The film also involves a young guy who shared the unit with the murdered man. However, without giving too much of the plot away, I feel that Anna and DCI Reid's motivations remain unclear even at the end. Is she a femme fatale or just delusional? Is he captivated by her or using an unorthodox method to solve the murder case? The film is just too obscure all the way through - like a sketch that needed a lot more colour and brushwork to finish it off.A movie such as "I, Anna" must also compete with first class, movie-length television series such as "Vera", "Lewis" and "Wallander" to name a few, which have complicated, well thought out plots and brilliant characterisations - the competition is hefty, and I don't think "I, Anna", after a promising start, really ups the ante all that much.Despite the presence of the perennially enigmatic Charlotte Rampling, the story is just too thin, and has a denouement that we've seen before in other movies.