Movie Review: Danny Boyle's TRANCE

I saw the preview for this movie a long time ago and remember thinking hmmm, Danny Boyle...it could be interesting, then promptly forgot about it. Then a few weeks ago I read that Danny Boyle had been dating Rosario Dawson and they'd broken up shortly after his movie came out. I thought, Danny Boyle + Rosario Dawson...hmmm...interesting...

Fast-forward to last night. I was bored and trawling through my movie selection when I came across Trance. I'd forgotten all of the above and was hugely sceptical about it because normally I know a lot about the movie I'm about to watch before I commit to watching it. But I decided to give it a go.

The first scene featured James McAvoy, an auctioneer. Immediately I felt better. When I saw Vincent Cassel, I breathed a little easier. The cast was looking promising.

Then the priceless painting and the gang with shot guns came out and I thought, oh no, not another movie about an art heist! To be honest the first 15 minutes were fairly predictable.

But then things got VERY interesting!!!

***Mini Spoiler Alert***

James's character "Simon" turned out to be involved in the heist (fairly predictable). He tried to feebly foil the robbery of the priceless painting to throw suspicion off himself and the robber retaliates (also fairly predictable). But the blow he got to his head during the tussle gives him amnesia and he forgets where he hid the painting (twist number 1).

A few cracked ribs and prised off fingernails later, his thug friends decide the best way to help him remember where he's stashed the 25 million dollar painting is to take him to a hypnotist (Rosario Dawson).

To summarise, it turns out Simon and his hypnotist were in a relationship before she hypnotised him into forgetting her because he'd gotten possessive. But now, she wanted the painting for herself. But in order to help him remember where he'd stashed it, she risked him remembering he was once her lover, thereby opening a huge can of worms. And let's not forget, the thugs were still being thugs in the background. And the more Simon remembered, the more dangerous and twisty things got. 

To be honest, there were so many twists and turns from that point that I began to get motion sickness. But it was hugely enjoyable, and I thoroughly recommend it, even if at times I found myself thinking...Danny Boyle + Rosario Dawson? Hmmm...