All Done Up

Watched The Guilty on Netflix last night. It’s a bit like Rear Window (or Phone Booth!) in that the action all takes places from one person’s fixed perspective and the viewer understands the action through that person’s perspective (thankfully, the person is Jake Gyllenhaal and his perspective is 911 operator). The move is a classic B- / B+, one of those “they don’t make these movies anymore” movies that would have been a minor concern in the 90s and would have gained a second life on TNT, but alas such things are impossible now.

But that’s not what I want to talk about. What I am here to suggest is the following: Do not look up the names of voice actors in movies until the movie is over, because otherwise it might ruin the movie for you.

Here’s an example (and a spoiler, I guess, if you subscribe to the mantra above): In The Guilty, one of the people that Officer Jake G talks to on the phone is voiced by none other than Mr. Long Regard himself, Peter Sarsgaard. Now, if you know nothing of Peter Sarsgaard, this is not an issue. However, if you do know about Peter Sarsgaard, and about the kinds of characters he lines to play and the kind of actor he tends to be, knowing that he is the voice of a character we suspect to be the heavy, but only finding out half way through before the twist of the plot hits can tip you that something is coming.

It’s hard to fully explain what I mean without giving away the movie. Generally speaking, I would not have seen a twist coming if I didn’t know who the voice actor was. So save that shit until after the movie, is my advice.