This movie has a visual style that reminds me very much of the two-season-long TV show, Pushing Daisies. The story itself is about a guy who can get information from the dead and also see bad things coming. He lives in a small town, so not a WHOLE lot happens that he has to worry about, but he does enough that he has a good relationship with the local sheriff.
Anton Yelchin plays the title character whose first name is actually Odd, and he finds himself juggling his strange abilities and the responsibility that comes with them and his relationship with his girlfriend. The last time I saw Anton, he was playing Chekov in the remake of Star Trek, and he was good in it, even if he wasn't completely understandable with that accent. In this movie, he does a good job of making his character relatable and sympathetic. The nature of the story kind of makes him and his hijinks unrealistic, but he still makes him down to Earth enough to make you pull for him.
One of the most significant ways they ground him in reality is by using Addison Timlin, who plays his very young and very pretty girlfriend. She doesn't see any of the things that he sees, but she listens to him and gives him advice from the real world, so he doesn't get lost in all of the things that he's doing with ghosts and demonic projections and crap. She exists to be sweet and supportive, and she fills that role just fine.
Willem Dafoe was an unexpected big name for this movie. He plays the local sheriff who accepts tips from Anton and covers up any questions about how he discovered evidence or apprehended someone. Willem has the unusual (for him at least) task of also providing a bit of comedic relief as hs date night with his wife keeps getting interrupted by Anton's life.
Anton spends the movie knowing that something very bad is going to happen, but the signs are so unfocused, that he has issues trying to figure out what exactly is going on, so it's kind of a supernatural mystery thriller. It's not a deep movie, but it was entertaining.
Acting was very good
Effects were a bit overused. CG pancakes? Really?
Story was interesting
Dialog was appropriately light
Direction was excellent
3.5/5