Entrancing

Danny Boyle must live his life by the belief that variety is the spice of it. From big scale sci-fi to true life stories, from zombie attacks to quirky tales of love, ranging in locations from Scotland all the way to Mumbai no two Danny Boyle films share the same ideas. But where Mr.Boyle really comes into strength is with his inherent splash of “Boyle-ness” that seeps from the screen, making you instantly recognise his work from a mile away. Be it found in the original and trademark cinematography ( no over use of lens flares here ) or even just a few bars of some randomly placed 90’s House, or a plot with twists and turns that entertain the viewer not annoy ( M.Night take note ) a Danny Boyle film is hard to ignore.

 

With that being said his latest offering of Trance appears to have slipped under the radar for much of the general public. This film fryer-upper having gotten a lot of “What?” or “Never heard of it” when bringing Boyle’s most recent work in conversation. Which surprised me, fair enough, he was always a little bit more of an independent man, more Fox Searchlight than 20^TH Century, but this is the man who cleaned up at the Oscars a few years back, making him a household name overnight.

All that aside Trance maintains the essence of Boyle with some nice little twisty plot points along the way. Telling the story of a man who must undergo a series of hypnotherapy sessions to unlock the forgotten location of a very expensive painting he has robbed. It may not be as fresh a concept as Boyle’s earlier works and that may take away some of its charms, but it’s strong pace and great performances from the leads help this movie move a fraction above the normal fare running at your local picture house.  It sometimes feels like a mixed bag of ideas that have all been done before, see Inception and another film that if I told you its name would ruin a big plot point, and in the hands of another director it might have seemed contrived and a bit “head up its own ass-y” but with some great and jarring soundtrack choices and inspired casting ( see McAvoy playing against his usual character, one quite similar to Ewan McGregor’s in Shallow Grave ) , Trance is pulled off with a fine level of success. Fans of Boyle’s work will be harder on the director as they know what he is capable of but on its own, without comparison to other movies, Trance is an entertaining if flawed piece.

It’s great in places where it needs to be great and has flashes of Boyle’s earlier work but sometimes, like McAvoy’s accent, it slips up along the way. Entrancing, you bet, but it’s no Derren Brown.

 

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