(Credit: www.impawards.com)
Director:
Iain Softley
Starring:
Kate Hudson……….Caroline
Gena Rowlands……….Violet
Peter Sarsgaard……….Luke
Joy Bryant……….Jill
John Hurt……….Ben
Set in the dank atmosphere of Louisiana, director Iain Softley (“Backbeat” “K-PAX”), provides a ghost story that’s slow build not only makes you want to see what is going on, but provides movie lovers the opportunity to watch Kate Hudson grow as an actress.
Hudson plays Caroline Ellis, a hospice worker that wants to start nursing school. She takes a job, reluctantly, as a live-in caretaker in an old plantation house in the Louisiana Delta. The home is owned by Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands) and her husband Ben (John Hurt), who has been partially paralyzed by a recent stroke.
It’s not long before Caroline realizes something is off about the house, with all of it’s locked doors. Once Caroline receives the vaunted Skeleton Key from Violet and gets too nosey, things take a turn for the worse. As Caroline keeps finding out more about the house, she uses everything at her disposal, including a change in her beliefs, to try to end the madness in the home.
The supporting cast, mostly including Luke (Peter Sarsgaard) as an estate lawyer for the Devereauxs and Jill (Joy Bryant) as Caroline’s best friend, do fine in their respective roles and allow the audience to take a break from the main characters at the right times.
As with many movies in this genre, you can expect to jump a few times and have the moments where the music gets really loud and you know it’s about to go down or you’re about to jump again. Not that it is a bad thing, because, hell, that’s what these movies are about for the audience.
With that said, the movie does have a little flavor too it, with writer Ehren Kruger (“The Ring”) providing the Cajun flavor and Softley mixing the gumbo properly, giving the viewer the true feel of the bayou while the actors give it that big ticket feel.
What makes the movie so much fun to watch is the emergence of Kate Hudson as more than just a pretty face with a comedic twist. With most movies I think of what other actors could have played the lead. With The Skeleton Key I can honestly say I can’t see anyone else in Hudson’s role, which is a pleasant surprise. Her performance as Caroline is fantastic, with the perfect blend of good acting with a hint of sex appeal. (Just because she does a wonderful job doesn’t mean the pretty face has gone away.)
Helping Kate along the way is Gena Rowlands, who needs to be commended for her portrayal of Violet. She found a way to take what is a dark, shady character and add a dose of humor. Most ghost stories don’t really provide that humor, and it was a refreshing thing to see. She is also able to make you think her character is about to go completely insane and then turn the switch off at the right time, making the viewer want to see her lose it.
While Softley’s surprise ending did cause momentary head scratching, it more than justifies the story and gives the audience a somewhat fresh take on what the story truly was.
