Looking Glass

The alchemic tang of peeled-back vice and possible insanity isn't there in Jerry Rapp's plodding screenplay and director Tim Hunter's tension-challenged execution.

Even the actors' fine efforts cannot rescue Looking Glass from terminal murkiness.

More sincere Cage fans will just sigh, take mild solace in his avoiding yet another low-rent revenge thriller, and hope for the best next time around.

When a subdued Nicolas Cage is the best thing about your movie, well...

[A]n exercise in seeing how many creepy elements can be added to a story without finding a way to connect them.

A sadly muted thrill-free thriller, starring a disappointingly manic-deprived Cage.

For Cage, it's just another quick roadside stop on a seemingly endless B-movie journey.

Nicolas Cage completists will see it, but no one else should feel obligated.

It certainly could be better, but it's mildly impressive to watch Hunter make sure it's not worse.

Looking Glass isn't a great movie, but it's a very entertaining one, leaning into the wild gesticulations of its lead without exploiting or overusing them.

Voyeurism and grief are both included, but neither is meaningful in the context of what proves little more than a generic thriller built from confusion.

Bargain basement. If it was made in the nineties would have been a routine skin-e-max programmer.