DVD Review: Open Windows

There were a couple of reasons I decided to give Open Windows a couple of hours of my time. The first was that it was written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, the guy behind the fantastic Timecrimes. The second was that the official blurb sounded interesting enough, but the addition of Elijah Wood in a role that sounded like he would be a creepy son of a bitch really sold it to me. I mean who doesn’t think that Wood would make a great creepy guy, somewhat akin to how Robin Williams did in One Hour Photo?

The film’s problems begin early in the film, when you realise that the publicity department just didn’t quite know how to sell the film, so they kinda lied. A small lie that keeps in with the theme of the film, but distorts your expectations so much that you find yourself watching a different film to what you thought you were.

The problems continue when you realise that the film’s title isn’t a cleaver play on Hitchcock’s Rear Windows but rather a blatantly obvious but somewhat hidden clue to what you’re about to be subjected to.

You see, most of the film is played out on Nick’s (Wood) laptop screen, where we follow the action through an increasing number of open windows, with the camera panning from one part of the screen to another depending on where the action was.

Now I’m probably being a bit harsh, because some of the concept worked quite well, and the story had some interesting developments, but for the most part it was like watching several YouTube videos at once without a decent internet connection.

And what’s worse is that Wood’s character Nick isn’t even a creep, just some hapless nerd, a pawn in a much bigger game.

Rating: R18 Violence, sexual themes & content that may disturb.

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