It’s, well, Inconceivable how a movie like this could get made as the story has been done numerous times before, no doubt countless Lifetime Movies, but worst of all, been done better before with the likes of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. As it is, there’s not much to really enjoy from this.
Inconceivable
(2017)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Drama
Lionsgate | R – 106 min. – $24.99 | August 29, 2017
Date Published: 08/25/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 1.5/5 |
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Note: This review contains plot spoilers. Inconceivable is the latest Lifetime Original Movie plot that somehow got a better budget and name cast, though I wouldn’t put it past Gina Gershon to appear in one of those movies. But Nic Cage? He’s done some really doozies lately from Grindstone no less, but this has to be a new low. The story involves a young woman Katie (NICK WHELAN) who, at the opening, escapes near death from an abusive spouse with her baby girl. We fast forward four years later and she’s landed in, I think, California where she’s befriended by Angela (GINA GERSHON) who has a young daughter of her own. The pair hit it off, as planned by mutual friend Linda (NATALIE EVA MARIE), and soon enough she’s invited to Angela’s life with dutiful husband, Brian (NICOLAS CAGE).
Despite the suspicions of Brian’s mother (FAYE DUNAWAY), they accept her into their lives, going so far as to offer to move her into their guest house and hire her as a part-time nanny seeing as their daughters got along like sisters. Kate soon becomes more than a nanny, serving as a surrogate as Angela is unable to get pregnant suffering multiple miscarriages and their daughter was only born from a fertilized egg from an anonymous donor… who is not so anonymous as it turns out. I think you get the gist of this movie. Angela becomes suspicious of Katie. Katie becomes increasingly psychotic. Brian is a dumb ass oblivious to everything going on around him. This is a wholly predictable snooze-fest of a “thriller”. Even the ending, which I was about to give credit for going away from the Lifetime mold went back after a twist. Inconceivable was scripted by Chloe King whose career is, well, unusual. She previous had a stint writing Red Show Diaries from ’92-’96, Poison Ivy II in ’96, something called B. Monkey in ’98, some kind of Red Shoe Diaries TV movie in ’01. And then… this. One wonders if this script was collecting dust somewhere and was found. Should’ve really been left in a bottomless drawer.
The cast don’t exactly give stellar performances but with that script, not sure I can place much blame on them. This was touted as the reunion of Gershon and Cage since 1997’s Face/Off, which in itself was silly but a lot of fun. No such fun here. In any case, I suppose if I had a good word to say, Nicky Whelan at least is not only hot, but has the crazy eyes for the role, at one point staring into the camera and damn near stole my soul. Gave me the heeby-jeebys. But that’s really it in terms of the good. The biggest sin going against Inconceivable is, it’s incredibly and utterly dull. While I didn’t nearly fall asleep or anything (Malick’s movies do that in spades), my mind did tend to wander, just waiting for something, anything, interesting to happen. Probably the issues with poor pacing lies with first-time director Jonathan Baker who has just as an odd career as King, with his only credit, as an executive producer, dates back to the 1980s with a (very) short spurt as an actor. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.75/5 |
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This release comes with a slightly title-embossed semi-glossy slip cover. Audio Commentary – Director Jonathan Baker chats about the project, breaks down certain shots and working with the cast and sings their praises. Nothing amazing but he does have plenty of energy. Behind the Scenes of Inconceivable (11:41; HD) is a featurette filled with on-set interviews with the cast (Gershon, Cage, Whelan) as they discuss their characters and the plot. Deleted Scene (0:37; HD) is with Faye Dunaway telling a story. Cast/Crew Interviews (52:38; HD) are extended interview footage with Cage, Gershon, Whelan and Marie. Trailer (2:11; HD) Previews – Black Butterfly, Aftermath, Isolation, Urge, Manhattan Night |
VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| Inconceivable comes to Blu-ray through Lionsgate with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio presentation and a 1080p high-definition transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec). The picture quality here isn’t half bad, actually, with bright colors throughout, natural skin tones and relatively sharp detail. That said, I did notice some heavy banding during the credits (no big deal) but otherwise, it appears clean. |
AUDIO – 3.25/5 |
| The movie includes a rather weak DTS-HD Master Audio track. I was a bit surprised that even for a low budget flick, the sounds on this from the beginning was fairly quiet with little depth. Dialogue levels at least sounded fine and this is a pretty drama-heavy film with zero real suspense-filled scenes that would necessitate heavy front or rear channel usage. |
OVERALL – 2.0/5 |
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It’s, well, Inconceivable how a movie like this could get made as the story has been done numerous times before, no doubt countless Lifetime Movies, but worst of all, been done better before with the likes of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. As it is, there’s not much to really enjoy from this as you’re not going to get bat-s crazy Cage. This Blu-ray release offers good video, so-so audio and a decent amount of features all things considered. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.