The Voices
The 2014 movie The Voices is one of the most underrated movies of all time. Few have heard about it, and the movie came out to mediocre reviews. The movie had a budget of eleven million, and even though I could not find the figure for how much the movie grossed, it is extremely safe to say that the film did not even make back its budget. The movie was considered a flop, and everyone seemed to forget about it. Except for me.
The movie stars Ryan Reynolds as Jerry, who is crazy. Jerry can hear voices, hence the title. His dog always tells him to do good, and his cat tells him to do bad. I think that the dog is meant to represent God and the cat is the Devil because the cat is always tempting Jerry with promises about killing. Also, later in the movie, it is revealed that Jerry’s mom could also hear voices and called them her “angels”, leading me to believe that the movie has a message about God in there. The picture is considered a thriller and a horror according to IMDb.com, but I think the movie is more of a dark comedy. Countless moments made me laugh extremely hard and had me frightened for characters, but the film is still able to keep a very serious tone. In one scene, Jerry’s cat is talking to him, and he yells back. The camera cuts to a different point of view. It just shows Jerry screaming at the cat, as the cat is just looking back at him, almost with a confused look on its face. In another scene, Jerry is telling his therapist about how life is amazing, saying how there are just moments of pure beauty in life. He talks about it in great detail, and when he finishes, his therapist, asks, “You totally stopped taking the pills, didn’t you?” and without any hesitation, he responded “Yes”. With the timing of Reynolds, the scene is pulled off perfectly.
The film also has some A-List actors, including Anna Kendrick and Gemma Arterton. Their involvement makes it even more surprising that this movie slipped under almost everyone’s radar. The movie is filled with great acting from all the actors in it, but the stand out has to be Ryan Reynolds. He can portray a character with some sort of mental illness convincingly, and he can make you care about him, even if he does not always do the right thing. He also does the voice of his cat and dog, showing that he can effectively do voice acting, showing that Reynolds is more than just a pretty face. The movie never feels slow or like it is dragging on, and every scene feels like it needs to be there, which is a lot less common than the average movie viewer would think. The movie also has some unexpected twists, and shows that it is way more than just a horror movie. It is smart and intelligent, and it is sad that few people saw it. The movie also shows, in a good way, what is truly evil, and what is just a byproduct of its surroundings. The message of the movie says that not all people that do bad things are actually evil.
With countless movies falling under the radar, viewers need to make sure they seek out these movies. Without recognition, movies like this one will be forgotten. Just because something gets bad reviews, or someone says that the movie is terrible, is not necessarily a reason to avoid the film. You may even find your new favorite movie. You never know how good something might be until you actually see it for yourself.
