Trauma (2004)

Trauma has a limited level of success on the account of its strongly-developed tone and a few creepy scenes, but the narrative is an absolute disaster. The plot is extremely simple, but deliberately made to seem obtuse, which leaves the movie unrewarding in the end. Colin Firth offers up a complete retread of his neurotic performance in Apartment Zero, and Mena Suvari has a handful of decent scenes that keep her from being an utter mess. No one in the cast is at the top of their game here. Perhaps the most criminal sin of Trauma is its blatant cribbing from the massively superior Jacob's Ladder. The ripping-off is not so much from the plot (though there are definite elements of that floating around in the stew), but in the atmosphere and stylism. Hell, Trauma pretty much admitted it when it used the "rapid head-jerk" effect that Jacob's Ladder invented. To me, this is a blatant and downright disrespectful act of plagiarism. Marc Evans, the director of Trauma, has talent but no creativity. Let's hope that he parlays this dearth of imagination into something far better - a stronger script or more captivating project.