What a great idea for a story. Makes you wonder why on earth they failed so miserably with the resulting film.
A sappy thriller in which good looking smart talking high school teen Nick is beaten up by Annie and her friends as she believes he is the one who reported her to the police for a robbery. His body dumped down a water drain and hovering between life and death he haunts Annie into finding his body before it’s too late and slowly falls in love with her. This film is a real stinker and managers to pack in every cliché in the book, the good looking high school achiever who has to escape the pressure of family life, the rough tough girl criminal who behind the jeans and hoodie is a beautiful and misunderstood young woman and all played out to a generic emo soundtrack. It’s hard to believe that director David Goyer is the same man who wrote Dark City, Blade, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as this is pure drivel.
Well, whadya know? Despite other reviews on this site (check IMDB), this is one teen film worth catching. It takes 30 minutes to get going, the music soundtrack is awful and it’s not as good as the Swedish original (Den Osynlige), but… Our hero’s body has been left for dead, hidden in a forest. His spirit, invisible to everyone onscreen, roams free to try to inform someone before he dies. The mechanics of his attempts to affect people are fascinating, even if some of them are puzzling, and it’s beautifully directed. Single-take shots, hand-held shots, the colour scheme – all have their place, as discussed on the director’s unusually revealing DVD commentary. Sure, it’s no masterpiece, but even in its failings film buffs will find it an unexpected treat.