In my Mill Creek Entertainment collection of mystery movies, "Bloody Wednesday" is paired on the same side of a disc with "Bloody Friday". Creative marketing there, huh?
Anyway, I'm going to take a different approach here from all the other reviewers for this picture so far. That's because mental illness runs in my own family, and I was able to relate to Harry's (Raymond Elmendorf) slipping in and out of reality over the course of the film. Living with someone like that is a harrowing experience because you never know what might come of an outburst that's completely rooted in unreality. Fortunately, most tantrums don't result in the massacre of three dozen people at a diner, but they end sadly nonetheless when you have to call the mental health unit for another trip to the hospital.
I can see how the movie wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea and how it bums out so many viewers. Most of it plays as a manic, make believe fantasy in which the lead character is stuck, but believes it all to be happening in real time. Actor Elmendorf is actually a good looking guy, so having him portray a nutcase kind of goes against the grain of your stereotype loonie, so it doesn't surprise that he once had a good looking wife (or did he?) and a therapist who he fantasizes about. The one aspect of the story that bothered me was how he wound up living at an abandoned hotel with all the utilities still operational. That didn't really ring true to me, but then again, was it supposed to?
You know, some days it just doesn't pay to chew through the restraints.
Anyway, I'm going to take a different approach here from all the other reviewers for this picture so far. That's because mental illness runs in my own family, and I was able to relate to Harry's (Raymond Elmendorf) slipping in and out of reality over the course of the film. Living with someone like that is a harrowing experience because you never know what might come of an outburst that's completely rooted in unreality. Fortunately, most tantrums don't result in the massacre of three dozen people at a diner, but they end sadly nonetheless when you have to call the mental health unit for another trip to the hospital.
I can see how the movie wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea and how it bums out so many viewers. Most of it plays as a manic, make believe fantasy in which the lead character is stuck, but believes it all to be happening in real time. Actor Elmendorf is actually a good looking guy, so having him portray a nutcase kind of goes against the grain of your stereotype loonie, so it doesn't surprise that he once had a good looking wife (or did he?) and a therapist who he fantasizes about. The one aspect of the story that bothered me was how he wound up living at an abandoned hotel with all the utilities still operational. That didn't really ring true to me, but then again, was it supposed to?
You know, some days it just doesn't pay to chew through the restraints.