Previously posted on blog and written by B. Demeter
Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) was an infuriating movie to watch. The story is engaging. The acting is on point. It takes you on a ride and then… it just ends.
Like Tony Soprano sitting in a booth at a diner- the movie is over without an explanation or satisfying conclusion. I actually found myself getting mad about it- but that stems from the fact that I was really enjoying it up until the final scene. I almost don’t even want to review it but in order to warn others about this film I feel as though I must.
The movie starts off with Jon Leguizamo working as a movie projectionist in an AMC theater in Detroit. He’s in the projection booth reading a book about lost colony of Roanoke by flashlight when suddenly everything goes dark (except for Jon’s flashlight). After a moment, the projectors come back on and every single person in the theater, mall, and city are gone. This happens mere minutes into the film and immediately I’m on board. It is top notch spooky and I love it. The only things that remain from the vanished people are a pile of clothes- which is a bit too “Night of the Comet” but still very effective. The only people that remain are those that were surrounded by light when the power initially went off. But they’re still not safe because malevolent shadows creep up on them, waiting for a moment when they can be snatched into the darkness.
From here we meet three other survivors, played effectively by legitimate actors Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, and young newcomer Jacob Latimore. Hayden, of course, is Darth Vader- but say what you will of his earlier roles, he is good in this movie. The lovely Thandie Newton is from the Chronicles of Riddick and many other recognizable films. And Jacob Latimore is 17 years old so I’m not holding it against him that he hasn’t been in anything of note. Jon survived with his flashlight, Hayden from candles for a romantic evening that never happened, Thandie from lighting a cigarette at the moment the lights went out, and Jacob, presumably, from a backup generator keeping the lights on in the bar.
The movie revolves around them meeting up in a bar that continues to have lights due to a gas-powered generator in the basement; trying to put together the puzzle pieces of their situation; and planning an escape. They’re all believably scared, realistically flawed, and increasingly desperate. It’s fucking fantastic!
And that is the problem. The firsts, second, much of the third acts suck you in too well for the movie to end as it does. I even found myself caring when characters died, and that is incredibly rare for me.
But then it is over. Nothing is solved or revealed. No one is left safer than they were during the rest of the film. I understand open-endings (The Thing, Inception, Lost in Translation, etc.). It can be very effective. But this movie shouldn’t have an open ending and I challenge anyone to explain to me how it works for this film. The only possible explanation that I can put together is this is somehow social commentary about the downfall and ruin of the city of Detroit- however; the fact that the movie takes place in Detroit isn’t brought up enough to matter as a significant plot point.
Ugh, this is like “Lost” all over again. You invest so much in the story that when it ends poorly you feel disappointed and ultimately wish you hadn’t gotten involved with it in the fist place.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to watch this movie. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. But if you do watch it, drop me a line and let me know what you think is up with the ending because I sure as shit didn’t get it.
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