Movie Review: ENEMY (2014)

SYNOPSIS OF “ENEMY” VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES:

“Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal) is a glum, disheveled history professor, who seems disinterested even in his beautiful girlfriend, Mary (Laurent).  Watching a movie on the recommendation of a colleague, Adam spots his double, a bit-part actor named Anthony Clair, and decides to track him down.  The identical men meet and their lives become bizarrely and irrevocably intertwined.  Gyllenhaal is transfixing as both Adam and Anthony, provoking empathy as well as disapproval while embodying two distinct personas.”

MY REVIEW

**WARNING – I AM UNDER THE WEATHER SO I APOLOGIZE IF MY WRITING DOESN’T MAKE AS MUCH SENSE AS USUAL LOL**

There is very few things I can say about this movie for fear of giving anything away.  Normally, I would put a spoiler alert for people, but I don’t want to go into much detail because I really do believe this is a movie that should be watched.   I know I’ve mentioned many times that I typically will watch a horror movie while working – it’s almost like a test for me.  I can tell if a horror movie is good based on how long it can hold my attention or if it does something completely and totally unexpected.  This movie did that for me.  I was engrossed almost from the minute I started watching it to the ending.  As soon as the movie ended, I sat in my bed – wide eyed and shocked.  I immediately went online and started researching the movie and the theories people had.

During my viewing of this movie, I did not realize that the director was Denis Villeneuve – who is also the director of the movie “Prisoners” (also starring Jake Gyllenhaal).  “Prisoners” is a phenomenal movie that left me on the edge of my seat and made me not want to have children.  So it comes as no surprise that I was enthralled with this movie.  The movie is based off of the book “The Double” by Jose Saramago and was shot around the same time Villeneuve was shooting “Prisoners.”

I’m trying to think of what else I can say about this film without giving too much away.  I know for me, I have to rewatch it sometime because after researching it I realized that there was so much I had missed.  This film definitely isn’t for everyone – I can see most people hating it.  It’s a challenge and you are not going to find out the answers that you want.  It’s like you are always going to be reaching forward, hoping to grab hold of something that will anchor the film for you and you will not find that.  I will also say that all the acting is superb. Jake Gyllenhaal is amazing as both Adam and Anthony, and I’ve really enjoyed him much more in his films that are darker.  I know this review does not give you much to hold onto and I’m sorry for that but I definitely urge you to watch this movie.  You will probably either love or hate it due to it leaving a lot of room for interpretation.  Here is my final review of “Enemy”:

Concept/Story: 1/2
Style/Effect: 2/2
Atmosphere: 2/2
Scares: 1/2
Rewatchability: 2/2

TOTAL: 8/10

Shannon McGrew
Follow Me
Movie Reviews

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *