Eye of the Beholder (1999)

A private eye shadows a female serial killer of men all over the U.S. without her knowing as he, strangely enough, occasionally acts as her guardian angel.

Director:

Stephan Elliott

Writers:

Marc Behm (novel), Stephan Elliott (screenplay)

Stars:

Ewan McGregor, Ashley Judd, Patrick Bergin

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ewan McGregor	...	Eye
Ashley Judd	...	Joanna
Patrick Bergin	...	Alexander Leonard
Geneviève Bujold	...	Dr. Jeanne Brault
k.d. lang	...	Hilary
Jason Priestley	...	Gary
Anne-Marie Brown	...	Lucy Wilson
Kaitlin Brown	...	Lucy Wilson
David Nerman	...	Mickey Argyle
Steven McCarthy	...	Paul Hugo
Vlasta Vrana	...	Mr. Hugo Sr.
Janine Theriault	...	Nathy
Don Jordan	...	Toohey
Maria Revelins	...	Ms. Keenan
Lisa Forget	...	Nurse

Storyline

British Consulate investigator Det. Stephen Wilson, a.k.a. the Eye, comes across a disturbed lady serial-killer while on an otherwise mundane assignment. Already a bit psychologically fragile from his wife's abrupt removal of herself and their daughter from his life (with the lingering memory of his daughter haunting him like a manifest ghost), his psychosis as a displaced dad dovetails with the femme fatale's psychosis as an abandoned daughter (crying "Merry Christmas, Daddy" over her expired victims). A bond forms, or, rather, an obsession, as the Eye abandons his job to secretively stalk this mysterious woman full-time as she visits many major U.S. cities under various names, leaving numerous victims.

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Plot Keywords:

femme fatale | chicago illinois | false identity | new york city | windstorm | 

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Taglines:

Obsession is in the eye of the beholder.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong violence, sexuality, language and brief drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Urban Cinefile (Australia)

Country:

Canada UK Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Voyeur

Filming Locations:

Rue de Claire-Fontaine, Québec City, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£103,455 (United Kingdom), 11 June 2000, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,959,447, 30 January 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,459,004, 26 March 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ambridge Film Partnership, Behaviour Worldwide, Eye of the Beholder Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The director originally wanted Massive Attack to do the music for the film, but the group had broken up by the time the film was ready for scoring.

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Goofs

The fold, in the photo of the Eye's daughter, moves around when we see it in close-ups.

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Quotes

Joanna: You like sharks?
Gary: I like the myths. They have limited memory. Maybe only a minute or two. Sounds like a pretty good life to me. Of course, the downside is they can never stop swimming. Even when they're asleep, they have to keep moving forward, 'cause if they stop even for a moment, they'll die.

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Crazy Credits

The main title of the film is a shot of Ewan McGregor's eye, with the words 'of the beholder' underneath it.

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Alternate Versions

Canadian DVD offers a deleted scene (where the Eye has a final conversation with his daughter, via a dream sequence) and an alternate ending. The latter shows an epilogue after the crash, where we see the Eye standing at Joanne's grave. As he's leaving, he spots a young girl visiting her mother's nearby plot, and has a bonding moment with her.

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Connections

Remake of Deadly Circuit (1983)

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Soundtracks

Home of the Whale
Words and Music Written by Owen Hand
Courtesy of Logo Songs Limited
Produced by Marius De Vries
Performed by Caroline Lavelle
Programming by Marius De Vries, Pete Davis, Alexis Smith
Cello by Caroline Lavelle

User Reviews

quality is in the eye of the beholder

This thing must have looked good on paper--the only reason I can think of that Ewan MacGregor and Ashley Judd would associate themselves with it. Funny thing is, I think there might be a good movie in here somewhere. I mean, was it good at some point until some outside force--a producer or a test audience, for instance-started messing with it? The plot is incomprehensible, something producers in screening rooms tend to not like. "But we have to put SOMETHING out there for god's sake! It's got two big stars in it!" My question is, did their tinkering make the film more or less confusing?

We may never know. Having paid close attention to the film (the interesting direction and photography held my attention), however, I have been able to surmise the following: a spy code-named ‘Eye,' (the miscast Ewan MacGregor) who's afraid of his own shadow, not to mention losing his mind since his wife left him (this same subject was covered in the far superior Zero Effect), falls in love with a beautiful killer (Ashley Judd). He's supposed to be getting her arrested but, as he keeps following her, becoming more and more obsessed, he starts protecting her. Judd's "Joanna" is a parasite. She targets well-to-do men, feeds off of them for a while, then kills them. Eye also tries to protect her victims from her, but usually fails--until she becomes a victim herself at the hands of the scary, creepy Jason Priestley (yes, THAT Jason Priestley). He saves her, only to lose her, then finds her again. This time he has the nerve to actually talk to her. But will he finally do his job and turn her in or will he become her next victim?

Before I start sounding too much like the back of a video box, let me just say that there is a lot here for those willing to pay close attention to it. Too often, though, it seems like it's trying too hard to be interesting, doing so at the expense of storytelling. It also seems self-important--as if they don't want the audience to understand. Some parts of it are just plain bad (like every one of k.d. lang's scenes).

Like I said, watch closely and you may get something out of it. Then again, no one should have to work that hard at watching a movie.

Grade: D