by Yazmin Ghonaim

STIR OF ECHOES David Koepp (1999) Stir of Echoes, written and directed by David Koepp (who wote Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible and Snake Eyes), is a new psychological thriller about a man haunted by a "sixth sense". Tom (Kevin Bacon) is an average blue-collar worker in Chicago who is skeptical about his future and fearful of falling into a mediocre existence. The news of his wife Maggie's (Kathryn Erbe) second pregnancy and his growing antipathy over his watchful sister-in-law Lisa (Ileanna Douglas), both fuel the anxiety inside him and set him up as a character who is ripe for drastic change. Soon after, Tom openly defies Lisa as she impresses a group of friends with talk of ghosts and of the supernatural powers of hypnotism. In an attempt to challenge her, Tom volunteers to be hypnotized, and in the process unlocks a door which leads to more than what he ever believed in. A character who from start to finish is literally looking for something, Tom progresses from being frustrated by a mundane existence to being terrified by an unwanted ability to hear spirits' "stir of echoes". This premise presents an opportunity to sensationalize the "unknown", most clearly seen in the attempts to visualize the protagonist's disturbed mental states. Stir of Echoes, however, is not much more than an exercise in exploiting the common fears of the average viewer and which shows that nonconformity is a dangerous state of mind which may destroy the family unit.		DVD Music Books Search by keywords:
Outstanding Features: Story Stir of Echoes Movie Review © 1999 Cinephiles - All rights reserved.