Everyone's a critic: 'The Wicker Man'

Two stars (out of four)

Nicolas Cage plays a motorcycle cop who pulls over a mother and daughter to return a doll that fell from atop their packed car.

A semi-truck hits the car after the little girl throws the doll back into the street. Mysteriously, no evidence of the mother or girl is found at the scene.

Soon after, Cage receives a letter from an ex-girlfriend (Kate Beahan) who needs help finding her missing daughter. This leads Cage to an isolated island filled with a commune of women who speak in riddles, which for me became a source of the frustrating pace of the film.

Most of the suspense revolves around trying to figure out what is actually going on. By the time I figured this out, the movie was concluding and setting the stage for a sequel. While this film boasts an interesting cast, you would be wise to wait for the video release.

-- Jerry Swan

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One star (out of four)

This movie was creepy, not scary, just creepy. Edward Malus (Nicholas Cage) is a cop whose life turns miserable when he is unable to rescue a mother and daughter from an auto accident.

His life gets even worse when he receives a letter from a long lost girlfriend saying that her daughter is missing and she needs his help. He ends up on a privately owned island known only as Summerisle. Summerisle is populated by people who live by different rules and traditions, such as the Day of Death and Rebirth.

Edward's search for the missing girl leads him to different parts of the island, and he comes into contact with many members of its odd populace. As time moves along, you have to wonder if Edward is just chasing shadows, and whether there really is a missing child.

I was less than impressed with the acting in this movie, though Cage does a fairly good job as a frantic man. Some of the visuals were nice and some were disturbing. I felt a lot more could have been done with the script. The only reason this movie is getting one star is for a plot twist that makes you go "Wow!"

I can't recommend this film unless you are a big Cage fan. I was just expecting more from the script, and it failed to deliver.

-- Dan Zimmerman