I really wanted to like Premonition, a mystery-thriller with the über-likable Sandra Bullock, because I enjoyed The Lake House a lot. Actually, I am split about the film, and I will tell you why later.
The story opens on a Thursday. Linda Hanson (Bullock) is a housewife with two beautiful girls, Bridgette (Courtney Taylor Burness) and Megan (Shyann McClure). Her husband, Jim (Julian McMahon) is on a business trip. Later during the day, she notices a strange voicemail from her husband; just then, a sheriff knocks on her door and tells her that Jim was killed in an auto accident the day before. But how could Jim have died if she just got his voicemail today? Shocked, Linda asks her mother Joanne (Kate Nelligan) to come and help take care of the girls and deal with the tragedy. Exhausted, she falls asleep on the couch.
When Linda wakes up, she finds Jim alive and well. Confused, she goes about her day thinking maybe she's had a bad dream. But it feels too real to her, and she's seeing people she's never met before (such as the sheriff). Then, Linda wakes up again, and it's now Saturday, the day of the funeral. But Linda has no idea what is happening. She has no memory of anything, including another accident that happened. One bad thing leads to another, sending her into a psychiatric ward.
But then, she wakes up again and it's now Tuesday. Once Linda realizes what's going on, she starts to piece everything together, and she realizes that she's having premonitions, and Wednesday (or Thursday, when she heard the news) hasn't really happened yet, and that she can still stop Jim's death. But should she? Her marriage to Jim is falling apart, and she suspects that he's having an affair. She asks, "If I let Jim die, is it the same as murder?" What is she going to do?
Sandra Bullock sinks her teeth in yet another paranormal romance, but this time she shows more of her dramatic edge. She usually picks roles that fit her real-life personality, and as Linda Hanson, she displays a genuine vulnerability that makes us want to root for her. Her emotional range is excellent. As her husband, Julian McMahan (Fantastic Four) holds his own in a relatively small role. His calm and distant performance makes for a great counterpoint to Bullock's emotional turmoil. Though his role is small, his portrayal is pivotal to Bullock's character arc.
Courtney Taylor Burness (Fur) and Shyann McClure (House M.D.) are good as the daughters. Thank goodness they don't overact like other child actors, and they give the film its needed warmth and gravity. As Linda's concerned mother, Kate Nelligan (The Cider House Rules) gives a solid performance, with enough conflict to make us ache for her decisions. Nia Long (Big Mama's House) doesn't have much to do as Linda's best friend—her role is rather peripheral and probably not even necessary. Peter Stormare (Nacho Libre) has a small role as a creepy psychiatrist. For some reason, I suspect that his role was much larger in the original script (I've heard there was as different ending).
Speaking of the script, written by Bill Kelly (Blast from the Past), it's really confusing and complicated—at least in the beginning—when the time line is all jumbled and we can't really tell what is real. I got confused because I thought it was a time-traveling story, until I reminded myself that it's about "premonition," as the title indicates. Still, the non-linear storytelling (as far as the real time line is concerned) can be very challenging to understand, especially when things are changed around Linda. Did she cause the changes? Can she change the future? Like The Butterfly Effect, the cause-effect plot can be mind-numbing. There are too many inconsistencies.
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1 - Lisa McKay
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