Stir of Echoes Review
By Joe Lozito
Bacon, not Stirred
"Stir of Echoes" would beg comparison to other films even if it didn't come out in such unfortunate proximity to "The Sixth Sense". "Stir" seems to borrow not only from the recent Bruce Willis thriller, but also from "The Shining" and even "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". But "Stir of Echoes" has to be given some credit since it is based on a Richard Matheson novel which came out in 1957, long before those other would-be influences.
Writer-Director David Koepp, the man behind the scripts for "Jurassic Park 2" and "Mission: Impossible" among others, has said that he has wanted to make this film for some time, that it was a labor of love for him. For a while, this labor pays off. The director establishes a nicely eerie mood, evoking an atmosphere of foreboding the same way he did in his other directorial effort, "The Trigger Effect".
At the start of the film, Mr. Koepp develops a few interesting characters, which is already saying a lot for a would-be horror movie. Kevin Bacon's Tom is unhappy with the lack of success he feels he's had in life and, to top it off, his wife Maggie (a well-grounded Kathryn Erbe) just announced that they're having another child. For Tom and Maggie, one child should be enough. Especially considering that their son Jake (another precocious, tri-named child actor) exhibits this summer's special-power du jour: talking to dead people.
Mr. Koepp gets fine performances from his stars, particularly Mr. Bacon, who's blue collar line operator carries the film. It seems that some are born with special powers, and others have them thrust upon them. In this case, Tom, in one of the film's best scenes, is hypnotized at a party and awakes feeling not quite himself and suddenly understanding where his son is coming from. All Tom knows is that he has to do something: Dig. If the otherworldly powers could give Tom a specific verb like that, why couldn't they give him a location as well? And, since all Tom's premonitions are neatly revealed and tied-up at the end, it begs the question "is anything else interesting going to happen to these people?" But questions like this are best left unasked in this film.
Instead, a la Richard Dreyfus in "Close Encounters", Tom goes slowly insane digging up his backyard and eventually his house. What Tom eventually uncovers may have been shocking in 1957, but now the revelation and corresponding resolution is wholly predictable. Which is a shame, since for a while "Stir" stirs up some genuine chills. But in the end, it is too much of an echo of things we've seen before.
