Twisted

Seeing “Twisted” is about as emotionally and intellectually engaging as watching the process of making taffy. It’s sort of interesting to watch the twists and turns, but overall you’re not really involved. This piece of movie making comes off very manufactured and leaves you no different when it is done.

Ashley Judd plays Jessica Shepherd, a police officer that is being promoted to a detective by her boss and mentor John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson). As she starts her first case, Jessica discovers something in common with all of the men that have been murdered: she has slept with each of them. This “whodunit” mystery builds a case against one character, and then creates a frenzy of suspects at the end. The deus ex machina resolution of the story is plausible, but it does leave you feeling a little robbed.

Considering the repertoire of work by writer/director Philip Kaufman (writer/director for “The Right Stuff,” screenwriter for two Indiana Jones films) it is easy to anticipate a better movie. Even employing the talents of Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia helps, but the real drawback is with the story. You can use great building blocks, but it’s hard to construct on a weak foundation. The script is not overly contrived, but it does lack the suspense you would anticipate for this genre of movie.

Without being excessive, there are many moments where foul language is used. More than that, there are a couple of instances with sexual relations. These situations are brief and refrain from showing any nudity. Most of all, there are many moments of violence—particularly showing brutalized dead bodies. The worst violence is a dramatic moment where Jessica repeatedly hits a perpetrator in the nose with a small wooden hand weapon.

It’s difficult finding anything uplifting or edifying in this movie. There is a partially developed theme of friendship and betrayal, but that’s really not the focus. The entertainment is centered primarily on figuring out who has committed the murders. Additionally, of course, there is a kind of love theme weaved into it.

This isn’t really worth the time watching—not even on video. The acting, however, is excellent. And, despite a few variations on a typical plot, “Twisted” comes across very straightforward.

Violence: Heavy | Profanity: Heavy | Sex/Nudity: Moderate