Gore Verbinski has been an established director for a number of years now.
He has been at the helm of major Hollywood franchises, but even with some notable titles under his belt, it seems that he has not been able to shake off his two biggest flaws; he makes most of his movies about a half-hour too long and in terms of being a box office “hit,” his movies are usually more of a “miss.”
“A Cure for Wellness” seems to be another mark in the “miss” column.
Lockhart (Dane DeHaan, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”) is a young and ambitious executive at a major financial company. When the company’s CEO, Pembroke (Harry Groener, “Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse”) writes that he is too sick to continue working in the wake of a massive merger forming, they forcibly send Lockhart to retrieve him at a voluntary wellness center in the Swiss Alps. After only spending a small amount of time at the center, Lockhart begins to become suspicious of the center’s intentions and purpose, along with the illness that Pembroke and all of the other patients suffer from.
The film starts out strong, especially in terms of visuals, as this is easily Gore’s best looking movie. When the story eventually goes awry, the most interesting aspect while viewing is where the camera is going to be placed next. Every shot of this film could have been used for posters in its marketing and it is a remarkable viewing experience in that respect.
Another takeaway from “A Cure for Wellness” is Jason Isaacs’ (“Fury”) performance as Dr. Volmer, the director of the facility. Isaacs’ portrayal of Volmer is an almost classic depiction of an evil scientist, which Issacs has the perfect presence for. He is big and exuberant while still having the appearance of being the sane one at times.
It is, sadly, one of the few truly great performances in the film, Isaacs truly shines in its finale. DeHaan, the film’s supposed star, gives an arguably plain performance.
Going back to Verbinski’s movies being a half-hour too long, this one felt 45 minutes too long. It presented too many questions, but then decided not to answer them all. Instead, they selectively answered some mythology questions, rather than what was really going on in the hospital.
Verbinski has put out unnecessarily long movies before. His third “Pirates of the Caribbean” film is almost three hours while his “The Lone Ranger” reboot is at a questionable two and a half hours. “A Cure for Wellness” follows the same trend of packing too much of so little.
“A Cure for Wellness” has big competition in the box office, as “John Wick 2” and the sequeal to “Fifty Shades” released a week earlier. After a disappointing “The Lone Ranger” in 2013, it appears that Verbinski’s more creative independent endeavor may also be a box office dud.
