The Ticket

Brilliant film. Dan Stevens gives a career-best performance in a cinematographically seductive what-if drama. A blind man, James, wakes up one day and can see. He has been blind since mid-childhood due to a growing tumor in his head. He has a wife and son. Regaining sight sets him on a path away from his small, routine life, towards success and greed. Fluk makes a gripping film here, but not one that's thrilling. Its haunting score, its moments of melancholy, its proximity and heat, and its progressive potency are what makes The Ticket one of the most overlooked films of the year. It feels personal, gives us space to wonder, but also delivers the harsh reality.

A-

Algren's response to the film put this on my radar and the premise looked intriguing too. While I can't say I'm all enthusiastic about the film, it's bottom line is that's good. It's an interesting character study, Dan Stevens is excellent and it's musical tones set a deepening mood. The storytelling overall I unfortunately found a bit lacking, limited in the way it hovers on the surface. It's clinical approach is at times fitting and appreciated, but it's also devoid of any real excitement preventing me in becoming very engaged with it. Thus it's artsy-ness is both its strength and its weakness with an ultimately good, but also not more than that, result.

B