Movie Type: Psychological Thriller, Supernatural Thriller
Themes: Time Travel, Amnesia
Main Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Polley, Piper Perabo, Robert Sean Leonard, Stephen Rea
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Roland Suso Richter's psychological thriller The I Inside stars Ryan Phillippe as a man who, as the film opens, becomes involved in a terrifying accident that leaves him unable to remember the last two years of his life. As if the protagonist being unable to recognize his wife (Piper Perabo), and learning that his brother (Robert Sean Leonard) has died, were not bad enough, dreams of a woman (Sarah Polley) he once loved come to him regularly. The hero must negotiate the terrain between fact and fiction in order to figure out what happened to his life. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Stephen Lang - Travitt; Peter Egan - Dr. Truman; Stephen Graham; Rakie Ayola - Nurse Clayton; Paul-John Borde - Intruder
Credit
Ffion Elinor - Costume Designer, Roland Suso Richter - Director, Jonathan Rudd - Editor, Andreas Schmid - Executive Producer, Sammy Lee - Executive Producer, Stewart Hall - Executive Producer, Andy Grosch - Executive Producer, David Ball - Line Producer, Nicholas Pike - Composer (Music Score), Allan Starski - Production Designer, Martin Langer - Cinematographer, Rudy Cohen - Producer, Mark Damon - Producer, Michael Cooney - Screenwriter, Timothy Scott Bogart - Screenwriter, Michael Cooney - Play Author
The I Inside is a 2003 psychological thriller directed by Roland Suso Richter. It was written by Michael Cooney based on his own play Point of Death. This movie has no connection with the science-fiction novel, The I Inside, by Alan Dean Foster.
Simon Cable wakes up in a hospital bed, confused and disoriented. He soon discovers from doctors that he has amnesia and is unable to remember the last two years of his life. Cable investigates what has happened to him and slowly pieces together his enigmatic past.
The I Inside has been compared with such films as Memento[1], The Butterfly Effect[2], eXistenZ[1], and Jacob's Ladder[3] in several critical reviews. The reason being that these films all feature similar story elements that tend to blur the distinctions between fantasy and reality.
The film has generally received luke-warm reviews from online critics. Review sites such as Beyond Hollywood and DVD Town have commended the film for a rather involving first two-thirds, with the mystery slowly being revealed layer by layer, drawing in the viewer. However, these critics found the ending a let down, calling it a "gotcha" gimmick[4] that causes "the past 70 or so minutes (to go) out the window"[4].
Currentfilm.com gives the most positive review of the film, bestowing a rating of 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and describing the film as "an absolutely terrific thriller, and a really great surprise"[2]. The review does put the proviso that there are "some minor story flaws and plot holes" but adds "that's not totally unexpected in a totally twisty film like this"[2].
Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com brings up a strange but interesting point: "The movie is based on a play with a much different title, one that actually gives away the surprise ending."[3]
Film Festivals
March 2004 - Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Films
July 2004 - München Fantasy Filmfest
August 2004 - Espoo Film Festival
September 2004 - Lund Fantastisk Film Festival
Production
Alternate poster art
The film is the English-language debut of German director Roland Suso Richter, whose previous credits include The Tunnel, After the Truth, and 14 Tage Lebenslänglich. Richter commented on the script by saying, "I was excited when I first read the script and if I can give something like that to the audience, that would be great."[5]
Production began on June 5, 2002 in Wales on a budget of about $10 million and wrapped in the middle of July, 2002.[5]
For the backdrop of the film, the production crew used Sully Hospital, near Penarth, Cardiff in south Wales.[5]
Ryan Phillippe commented on filming in Wales, which was his first trip to the country, "The people are great and I have found some world-class restaurants, which is nice when you are get off from filming and want to go somewhere to relax."[5]
Analyzing the criminal psyche is a common motif in Cooney's films and plays, and The i Inside is no exception. Though he himself is a stranger to real-life criminal trauma, Cooney explains that, "It's true that (criminal) psychology is a recurring theme of all my plays — those that aren't comedies, anyway. And while I don't have any background in it, I maintain that it's because I had such a happy childhood. It allowed me to explore the darker side of things, because I knew I would never get lost there."[5]
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