Weekly Review -- Fragments of a mind torn asunder

November (2004) -- Playing out like a noirish, rainy night version of Run Lola Run, this drama is as much a study of a wounded psyche as it is a suspenseful mystery. After her boyfriend Hugh (James LeGros) is murdered in a convenience store robbery, photographer Sophie Jacobs' (Courteney Cox) world starts to unravel, as she finds herself unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. Her memory hazy from the trauma, Sophie is fragile enough without having to hear strange noises and see photographs from the crime scene that start popping up everywhere. She starts her own investigation, but is she prepared for the outcome? I am happy to say that Cox is as far from Scream and "Friends" as she can get, delving into some very dark places in order to palpably demonstrate Sophie's confusion. She possesses an everywoman quality that makes her relatable, yet it is precisely this aura of quiet predictability and routine that creates uneasiness in the already unstable context of the enigma, making the performance stand out. Anne Archer and Nora Dunn have clever supporting turns as Sophie's mother and psychiatrist, respectively. Stylistically, the film borrows a lot of Lynchian elements, particularly with its medley of disjointedly muted sound arrangements and screaming intermezzo images, coming at us straight from humanity's deepest recesses. I should also mention Nancy Schreiber's somber cinematography, a stark reminder of the film's politics of loss. The only major gripe I have about November is that it occasionally gets lost in its own artfulness, while overdosing on the same. I also wish that the story's human relationships had been explored more, an aspect that could have added more depth to the puzzle; the affair, for example, was a very nice touch, but a rather neutral one, neither bringing nor taking away from the central incident. For its few weaker details, this is a calm and composed movie, with a couple of crescendos thrown in for good measure. If you would like to experience a moody mirage that keeps the viewer on the proverbial edge of the seat, see Greg Harrison's November.

7/10