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'Trespass' review

Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman are prisoners of a hilariously bad movie

By Geoff Berkshire

Metromix
October 11, 2011

Critic's Rating:

Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman (Credit: Alan Markfield/Millennium Ent.)

(L-R) Ben Mendelsohn, Nicole Kidman as Sarah and Nicolas Cage as Kyle in ``Trespass.''

Nicole Kidman as Sarah and Cam Gigandet as Jonah Collins in ``Trespass.''

Liana Liberato as Avery in ``Trespass.''

Nicole Kidman as Sarah and Nicolas Cage as Kyle in ``Trespass.''

Trespass

Running time:: 90 minutes

Rated:: R

Cast:

Nicolas Cage -

Kyle Miller

Nicole Kidman -

Sarah Miller

Ben Mendelsohn -

Elias

Liana Liberato -

Avery Miller

Cam Gigandet -

Jonah Collins

See full cast

Director:: Joel Schumacher

Official Movie Web Site:: http://www.trespass-the-movie.com/

Overall User Rating:: (0 ratings)

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["Trespass" premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. The following is an excerpt from Metromix's coverage of the festival.]

Outdated is only one adjective for the shoddy dramatics of "Trespass," a hilariously cheesy thriller from director Joel Schumacher. Despite the presence of stars Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman as a couple terrorized in their home by burglars, the film is already scheduled for a VOD premiere day-and-date with its limited theatrical release in the U.S. (with DVD already scheduled for Nov. 1). It would've been forgettable filler even in Schumacher's '80s/'90s heyday, but now it's simply another reminder of how far he's fallen, with the added indignity of dragging "Batman Forever" co-star Kidman down with him.

Why the Oscar-winning actress signed on to this without the backing of a major studio is a mystery, but her leap of faith isn't borne out in the final product. And even though she gives what's easily the film's best performance, it still rates among her personal worst. The entire film is pitched at the level of frenzied melodrama virtually start to finish, amplified by Cage's characteristically nutty turn as a diamond dealer neglecting his frustrated wife and increasingly promiscuous daughter (Liana Liberato). It's less surprising to see Cage—an Oscar-winner himself—overacting in ludicrous schlock, and the way he chews into the hysterically overwrought dialogue qualifies as a guilty pleasure in its own right.

Cam Gigandet, Ben Mendelsohn, Jordana Spiro and Dash Mihok round out the cast as the not-so-well-disguised burglars who quickly ditch their masks and deliver their own overheated revelations—Spiro's role as a tattooed drug addict who raids Kidman's wardrobe for a fabulous gown is especially silly. There are a couple of twists that almost threaten to make things interesting, but screenwriter Karl Gajdusek (or someone behind the scenes) ensures that even those are royally wasted by the end of the brisk 90-minute running time. Surely one of the worst films to screen at the fest, "Trespass" is still quite a discovery…for fans of gloriously bad cinema.

["Trespass" is also available on demand from select cable providers.]

Follow Metromix's Geoff Berkshire on Twitter: @geoffberkshire