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Review: Orphan

Delightfully gonzo
By BRETT MICHEL  |  July 28, 2009
3.0 3.0 Stars

 

John (Peter Sarsgaard) and Kate (Vera Farmiga) don't have eight children to contend with, but after the miscarriage of their daughter, they adopt, bringing their brood to three. Perhaps they should have cut their losses. The poster for the latest from Jaume Collet-Serra (director of the 1995 House of Wax) warns, "There's something wrong with Esther."

As if the dark, ee-vil eyes of the preternaturally intelligent nine-year-old Russian orphan (Isabelle Fuhrman) weren't a dead give-away. The film's snowy white palette becomes stained with blood not long after the homicidally gifted girl begins playing Russian roulette with her adorable little deaf (yes, lip reading factors into the plot) sister Max (Aryana Engineer) threatens to excise the "hairless little prick" of her brother Danny (Jimmy Bennett) with a box cutter, and grows maybe a tad too close to dad.

Meanwhile, recovering alcoholic mom is hilariously driven to google "kids who kill" en route to the film's delightfully gonzo final twist.

Related: Review: Waltz With Bashir, Review: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Review: Shorts, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Health and Fitness, Movies,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY BRETT MICHEL
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  •   REVIEW: LORNA'S SILENCE  |  August 13, 2009
    Are there many better young actors currently working in film than Jérémie Renier?
  •   BOTTLE ROCKET  |  August 07, 2009
    Who exactly is Charlyne Yi? Two years ago, she appeared — seemingly from out of nowhere — in a brief but memorable turn in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up. A closer look at Apatow's new Funny People , however, might provide a clue as to where he discovered her.
  •   LOVE, TRUTH AND VIDEOTAPE  |  August 10, 2009
    Is there anything more heartwarming than watching a little girl officiating at the marriage of two of her favorite dolls? Is there a purer form of love than the kind that a pre-pubescent might project onto the union of a plush Miss Piggy and a put-upon Kermit the Frog?
  •   REVIEW: ORPHAN  |  July 28, 2009
    John (Peter Sarsgaard) and Kate (Vera Farmiga) don't have eight children to contend with, but after the miscarriage of their daughter, they adopt, bringing their brood to three. Perhaps they should have cut their losses.
  •   REVIEW: HUMPDAY  |  July 24, 2009
    Ben's ovulating wife, Anna, does understand that this is something he needs to do, even if she can't quite understand why. I'm with her there.

 See all articles by: BRETT MICHEL

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