This is a case where pretty much everything goes wrong from the very start. Right from the opening scenes it already announces itself as something that’s going to be cheesy and dumb. The dialogue and acting are utterly bizarre, it has that exact same corny vibe that I don’t like about Cameron Crowe movies. I can’t even tell if Cruise’s acting is bad or if it’s just the direction or melodramatic lines given to him. The main characters are well defined, but they find themselves trapped in a mystery plot that’s impossible to take seriously. Some of the twists are so ludicrous and schlocky that they’d only work in a satirical context, it’s that implausible. The movie is fascinating, but not in that arthouse ‘that’s an interesting way of looking at it’ sort of way, rather I was asking myself ‘what on earth were they thinking?’ continuously. Stylistically the film has no distinguishable identity, both the cinematography and score are unremarkable and uninteresting. It’s just a massive dud from whichever way you look at it.

3/10