The Disappointments Room

There simply aren’t enough scares to build tension throughout.

Disappointments has the strange confidence of a much slicker, more decisive movie, and all of its sort-ofs don’t add up to much.

Caruso’s direction is slick and fluid enough, and gifted cinematographer Rogier Stoffers (Quills, School of Rock) makes the most of the house’s dark, eerie corners. But the performances are highly variable. Beckinsale delivers the goods, but Mel Raido as her impatient husband David never generates much sympathy.

There is more mood than matter to be sampled in “The Disappointments Room,” a spooky psychological thriller — or, perhaps, a psychological thriller with spooks — that is initially intriguing but ultimately, unfortunately, lives down to its title.

The Disappointments Room lives (and dies) up to its name.

The script telegraphs things, but also often descends into incoherence. It tries to be too many things at once, and ends up being nothing.

Named as if it knew its destiny, The Disappointments Room brings together those horror movie standbys that just can’t quit each other — a creepy old home and a troubled family — for some truly convoluted, non-scary, and execrable psychological mishegoss surrounding a hidden chamber and the noxious historical shame it holds.

Delivers a few thrills, Kate Beckinsale delivers the goods for this movie but only she can do so much against poor screenplay, poor editing and a generally underwhelming supporting cast. Curuso's direction is solid but again when your plot fails to inspire then you're doomed from the start of production.

This movie is a paycheck for Kate Beckinsale, because it ****. Kate looks sometimes out of place in this movie, maybe she didn't care. The plot is a mess and very predictable, also the movie makes some stupid decisions.Overall don't watch it, waste your time in something more productive.

I rented this due to Kate Beckinsale, since I'll watch anything with her, but could not finish this dreadful movie--quit after 45 minutes. Her performance was awkward. There was no chemistry between the couple, where even a kiss in the car was awkward, with husband David (Mel Raido). Kate's facial expressions made me laugh because I imagined her thinking, repeatedly, "I'm going to KILL my agent...". The film just didn't work at all. Some of the dialog was very out of place, with an attempt at humor just sort of drowning (David's comment about his job being napping and playing Xbox). Kate's character, Dana, has an epic physique, sporting skin-tight jeans and platform shoes that definitely shows her off, and yet, this character never exercises: never goes to the gym, never jogs, doesn't even eat food someone in her physical shape would have to eat (high protein, etc). This might be a nitpick but it was distracting to me. SHE was distracting. Her sexiness actually hurt her scenes. Here's a mother who just lost a child, grieving. Why would she wear sexy clothes? Maybe that's just how Dana dresses. Okay, but she's a professional architect, not a model. She would wear professional clothes at work, and comfy clothes at home. I can't fault the director. I really can't. I'm just saying it distracted me from her performance which is a loss. I kept thinking, okay, okay, but DAMN, Kate! Is that fair? It's probably not fair. It's not sexist. No, I don't think women should wear boring clothes because of men. Not at all. But wear sexy clothes on date night, etc. Around the house? Nah. All I'm saying is, she wasn't cast well with her co-star, Mel Raido. She had no chemistry with him. So, why try to look sexy? Okay, enough of that... I wanted badly to keep watching but I had to give up. The plot wasn't keeping my attention. I sort of rate movies based on whether I'd like to buy the Bluray, on the likelihood of repeat viewing. But even Kate's extraordinary body couldn't keep me watching. And I think that's what the director was counting on.

This film is a huge disappointment. Mostly because nothing happens. Let me summarise the film, a family who lost their daughter move into a house in the countryside. The mother has visions and loses her mind and then it ends. It is so boring. The characters are dull which makes them unengaging. Her hair and makeup is distractingly perfect for the entire movie. It's only really the last 25 minutes that are barely watchable but even then the emotional switcheroo is hard to believe. This film also undermines the emotional impact of a family losing a child as it is so badly handled. This is borderline unwatchable garbage.

A total "disappointment", D.J. Caruso's The Disappointments Room fails on every level, as it lacks any attempt at creating a decent story, interesting characters, or thrills.