Danny Boyle interrupted the filming of Trance to direct the Opening Ceremonies for the London Olympics. It showed. You can almost pin point the exact moment in the film where it stops working. “I was following, I was following, I was following *BAM* wha’ happen’?” Trance is a talented mess, both striking and confusing … it comes off like an 8-year old trying to describe Inception to his friend.
Simon (James McAvoy) is an art auctioneer. He takes us through the steps of what to do in case of evil: “Don’t be a hero” is emphasized. “No piece of art is worth a human life.” I bet that part is underlined in the script. And there he is on the day of the big robbery stealing a taser to give the business end to mob boss Franck (Vincent Cassel). Cassell responds with the pleasure end of his rifle, which while not lethal, creates a fabulous plot point. Suddenly, Simon don’t remember some stuff too good, like where he hid the painting before Franck unwittingly stole just the frame.
When Simon returns from the hospital, we realize, like Britney, he’s not so innocent. Bad gambling put him in a hole. I swear I’ve seen James McAvoy with a gambling problem in about eight films now. Whose choice do you suppose that is? “The character here has a problem with gambling …” “Ooh! 
Ooh! Give it here! I can totally do gambling problems.” So Simon is neck deep with the gang of thugs (another noun in desperate need for a colorful collective – a parade of thugs? A trove of thugs? A line-up of thugs? I like that one), who have their own unpleasant version of ‘Simon Says’ in which Simon mostly says, “aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!” Giving up on torture, these nail-splitters send Simon to a quality hypnotist, Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson). From this point on, the film is hers more than it is Simon’s. We can tell Trance-specialist Elizabeth knows much more than she lets on, and there’s a lot of both meat and gristle in the extraction of what she knows and what he knows. The biggest problem here is that the memory sequence scenes become more and more erratic until it’s difficult to tell either reality or sequence within the flashbacks. I think a better editing could have helped a great deal.
Perv corner: fond as I am of gratuitous nudity – and, oh boy, do we have some gratuitous Rosario in Trance – it seems tossed in to see if we the audience have stopped paying attention. Yes, thank you for that. It’s much lovelier than the McAvoy nudes. Well, I say “nude,” but he’s clearly wearing a watch. What’s up with that? You got a date, pal? No. I don’t, either. Not any more at least. And strangely, all my troubles are far, far away, like the distance between Trance and greatness.
With the auction alarm toll a chimin’
Our boy got entangled with crime-n
The masterpiece hid
And memories rid
Results in not-so-simple Simon
Rated R, 101 Minutes
D: Danny Boyle
W: Joe Ahearne, John Hodge
Genre: Inception-lite
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Egotistical professional hypnotists
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Suckers
