ALL I SEE IS YOU – Review

For over ninety years cinema has been catering to and exerting two of the five senses. Well mainly, since gimmicks like “Smell-O-Vision” and “Odorama”, used with the films SCENT OF A MYSTERY and POLYESTER, never really connected with the film going public. They were cards that emitted aromas when a number was scratched (after prompting by seeing the number flash on-screen). I’m guessing certain fragrances didn’t mix well with concession treats. Well before that, THE JAZZ SINGER introduced movie audiences to sound, allowing them to hear actors reciting lines rather than reading “title cards’ (along with sound effects and music). Now, instead of those cards, subtitles are run at the frame’s lower part for most foreign films (the subtitles help the “hearing impaired” watching films on home video). But how do film makers simulate the “point of view” of those “impaired’ or “challenged”? The wizards of sound mixing can manipulate the audio, sometimes turning down dialogue in the foreground as they “amp up” street noises in the background, and fading out the sound altogether (as in the recent DUNKIRK). Similar techniques can be used to show the visual senses failing, with shifting focus and fuzzy lighting. And it can keep the hero and heroine in near constant jeopardy, as the film makers attempt in the “would-be” thriller ALL I SEE IS YOU.

At the story’s start we are bombarded by images inside the mind of Gina (Blake Lively) while she’s making love to her hubby James (Jason Clarke). We soon learn that she is blind, the result of an auto accident as a teen. This accounts for the flash images of her family in a car, the sides of a tunnel, and a rapidly approaching truck, followed by flashing bits of glass and metal. Gina and her sister survived while their folks perished. James’s job has taken them to Thailand. While he works, Gina helps the neighbors (she gives guitar lessons to the pre-teen girl down the hall) and swims laps in the public pool along with her pal Karen. Aside from regaining her sight, Gina really hopes to start a family with James. There’s good news on the former front as a sight expert, Dr. Hughes (Danny Huston) tells the duo that he can restore sight in the right eye, once a cornea donor becomes available. An evening celebrating in a dance club turns tense when the couple is temporarily separated. Luckily the happy call from Hughes comes, Gina goes in for the operation, and she can see once more (she had never viewed her hubby’s face). Images are still a tad fuzzy, so Hughes prescribes a strict regimen of daily eye drops. James surprises Gina with train tickets for a return trip to their honeymoon locale of Barcelona, followed by a visit to her sister in a nearby village. Though happy, things don’t go quite right on the trip, especially when they try to “spice things up” in the sleeper car. Thankfully, Gina has a great reunion with her sister Carla (Ahna O’Reilly) and meets her brother-in-law Ramon (Miquel Fernandez) and little nephew Luca. A night on the town turns ugly (frisky locals), but a visit to the accident site helps the sisters heal. Returning to Thailand, the couple continue to be frustrated as the attempt to conceive, Then the unthinkable. Gina’s eye turns a harsh red as she begins to lose clarity in her vision. But she’s taking her drops as instructed. Did something go wrong in the operation or is someone trying to sabotage the healing process?

Perhaps in an effort to duplicate the surprise box office success of last Summer’s THE SHALLOWS, Lively is yet another damsel in distress, without the ticking clock element of a rising tide and hungry shark. She does display a real vulnerability in the early sequences as the camera mimics her gaze (like peering through a fish bowl full of chunky clam chowder) while not showing us the source of sudden loud noises. Unfortunately her Gina is far too guarded, hesitant to relate her feelings, which at times makes her a frustrating heroine. There’s an aloof air that distances her from much of the action as though she’s floating through the story. Clarke’s James is much more straightforward, every bit of unease etched in his darting eyes. His devotion to Gina often verges on the obsessive as he verbally strikes out when things don’t go as planned (especially in their “50 shades” fantasy). His motivations are murky which makes his scenes with Lively off-kilter. O’Reilly is a warm support system as the sister who shares a common trauma, while Fernandez as her hot-blooded hubby is a “wild card” whose attempts at comedy are ill-timed (why does he douse himself in blood-red paint before a bull statue before slipping on a chain-mail dress). Though he’s only in a couple of scenes, the dependable Huston exudes the proper gravitas as the stern but concerned doc.

Unfortunately the film is just as hazy and unfocused as Gina’s right eye. Director Marc Foster (MONSTER’S BALL) lets the story drift aimlessly and only lets a sense of urgency kick in during the last act. Far too much time is spent in the POV shots and the manic memory flashes scattered with little purpose over the long running time ( a twenty-minute trim might’ve helped…a bit). The couple at the story’s centered aren’t compelling enough for us to be invested in their squabbles and pettiness. And why the foreign locales? It adds a bit to Gina’s disorientation in the opening (she struggles with a language-learning app), but it seems an excuse for a “working vacay” for cast and crew. Thailand’s never another character. It’s just another problem with the script by Foster, along with Sean Conway, which is a meandering, pretentious mess (lots of floating shots of Lively…huh?). Film goers will struggle mightily to keep their eyes open (and mind engaged) with ALL I SEE IS YOU.

1/2 Out of 5