2007   USA Anamorph
Anamorph Image Cover
Additional Images
Director:Henry Miller
Studio:Kamala Films
Writer:Henry Miller, Tom Phelan
IMDb Rating:5.5 (5,617 votes)
Genre:Thriller
Duration:103 min
Languages:English
IMDb:0497323
Amazon:B001F0TM1C
Search:NetflixYouTube
Henry Miller  ...  (Director)
Henry Miller, Tom Phelan  ...  (Writer)
 
Willem Dafoe  ...  Stan
Scott Speedman  ...  Carl Uffner
Peter Stormare  ...  Blair Collet
Clea DuVall  ...  Sandy Strickland
James Rebhorn  ...  Chief Lewellyn Brainard
Amy Carlson  ...  Alexandra Fredericks
Yul Vazquez  ...  Jorge Ruiz
Don Harvey  ...  Killer
Paul Lazar  ...  Medical Examiner
Edward Hibbert  ...  Gallery Owner
Dennis Albanese  ...  AA Member
Amir Arison  ...  Criminal Profiler
Michael Buscemi  ...  Detective #2
Desiree Casado  ...  Teenage Checkout Girl
Jordan Charney  ...  Review Board chairman
Tandy Cronyn  ...  Moderator
Monique Curnen  ...  Female Student
Stephen Daniels  ...  Reporter #2
Paz de la Huerta  ...  Young Woman
Mick Foley  ...  Antique Store Owner
Lolita Foster  ...  Drink Waitress
Edwin Freeman  ...  Police Officer
Robin Goldsmith  ...  Stone-Faced Detective
Malcolm Goodwin  ...  Museum Guard
Deborah Harry  ...  Neighbor
Marcia Haufrecht  ...  Diner Waitress
Allison Hope  ...  Crime scene photo victim
Robert C. Kirk  ...  Heavy-Set Detective
Tim Lamendola  ...  Off-Duty Detective
Samantha MacIvor  ...  Crystal
Lucy Martin  ...  Uptight Woman
David McDaniel  ...  Board Member
Robert McKay  ...  Detective #1
Martin Pfefferkorn  ...  AA Member
Sharrieff Pugh  ...  ECT Technician
Nicolas Quilter  ...  Dead Man At Tugboat
Gary Ray  ...  Officer #1
Cassandra Seidenfeld  ...  NYPD Officer
Barbara Sicuranza  ...  Forensic Technician
Ashley Springer  ...  Jeff Sarno
Paul Sutt  ...  Hanged Man
Elizabeth West  ...  Reporter #1
Billy Wheelan  ...  Young Man
Virginia Wing  ...  Board Member
Fred Murphy  ...  Cinematographer
Reinhold Heil  ...  Composer
Johnny Klimek  ...  Composer
Comments: Some films are intentionally ambiguous leaving the final interpretation up to the viewer while others simply fail to tell a cohesive story causing the viewer to invent all kinds of theories about what the film was trying to say. Anamorph falls into the latter category.

This is one of those films where the death/crime scene is a work of morbid art, in the tradition of Se7en and Silence of the Lambs. The film looks good with its fiery cinematography. It's paced well and Willem Dafoe turns in a smoldering performance as the aging cop we're never clear on just how torn apart are his insides. And that's where this film fails. It's never clear about much of anything and tries to justify itself via the concept of the anamorph whose rendering "Depends on where you stand." Flashbacks and reflective turmoil are used to try and fill in the blanks as to why Dafoe's character is so intimately connected to the crimes. The film's denouement gives us a silly special effect suggesting multiple personalities may be involved. But maybe this and maybe that aren't good enough and I'm confident that at film's end you will scratch your head and say "Whaaaa"? It's also disappointing that, surprisingly, we weren't treated to any really good anamorph illusions. Given the title of the film, I'm just saying ....

★★★

Summary: A psychological thriller based on the concept of anamorphosis, a painting technique that manipulates the laws of perspective to create two competing images on a single canvas. ”The dictionary defines anamorphis as a drawing presenting a distorted image that appears in natural form under certain conditions, as when viewed at a raking angle or reflected from a curved mirror … you will define it as TERROR!”


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