Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Dalbert Pringle Scissors. Scissors. Scissors. Yes. Indeed - Scissors!.... So phallic (?). And, yet, so suggestively female (?), as well.... And, believe me - Actual penetration can be oh-so deadly! Slick. Glossy. Intense. Intriguing - (There's no denying it) - Dead Again was (most definitely) all of these things. But, alas, by the time that the ending rolled around, this film somehow failed to satisfy this viewer as being a genuine Thriller geared to the intellect..... Needless to say, though, Dead Again was an unusually constructed Suspense/Drama, if nothing else.And, yet, regardless of being a well-crafted and highly-stylized film production (with shades of "Hitchcock" thrown in for good measure) - Dead Again's basic story-line was ultimately just too-too dense, and, yes, just too-too artificial, to actually achieve its overall magic to its anticipated potential."Dead Again" trivia - Upon its initial release back in 1991, this film remained the absolute #1 movie at the box-office, all across the nation and beyond, for 3 solid weeks running.

SnoopyStyle A mute woman (Emma Thompson) with amnesia is found by the nuns at an orphanage. She's haunted by nightmares. They recruit private investigator Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh). He brings her to Pete Dugan (Wayne Knight) for a picture in the papers. The County hospital is overcrowded and he brings her to stay with him. Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi) offers to help after reading the newspaper. He's a psychic hypnotist and his sessions reveals her past life as pianist Margaret Strauss and her husband Roman Strauss who was on death row for her murder. There is also Margaret's friend Gray Baker (Andy Garcia). Doctor Cozy Carlisle (Robin Williams) tells them treating a patient with her past life. Doug (Campbell Scott) claims to know her but is quickly found to be lying.It's a movie hearkening back to old Hollywood and even in the style of Hitchcock. It's an intriguing style. The old story in black and white is less compelling for some reason. There are times when it's not as sharp as one wishes. Campbell Scott's karate kick is almost comical. There are opportunities for real tension but one can almost see the strings being pulled. It's a movie that I would like to love more than in reality.

gridoon2018 "Dead Again" slipped under the radar in the early 1990s, and since then its director and star Kenneth Branagh has become somewhat of a controversial figure, primarily for the (over?)ambitious nature of the projects he tackles. This "smaller" but still audacious early effort is worthy of re-discovery: the script is cleverly twisted, tightly constructed and has a sense of humor, the direction is measured and balanced, the casting is expert (has Emma Thomson ever been more gorgeous, and more casual, than in the present-day sections of this movie? Also, Derek Jacobi is perfect and Robin Williams' cameo appearances are hilarious), the music score is lush and extravagant, and the payoff is satisfying. Perhaps you can find small faults here and there, but they don't seem to matter in the larger picture. *** out of 4.

jimbo-53-186511 A woman known as Grace (Emma Thompson) suffers recurring visions of someone killing a woman. Grace is suffering from amnesia and is in a catatonic state whereby she only speaks when she yells things out in her sleep. Grace is released in to the care of private eye Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) who attempts to try and piece Grace's life back together and attempts to get to the bottom of who Grace is and also why she is having these strange visions. Church gets some unexpected help from antiques dealer and hypnotist Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi). Through a series of hypnosis sessions, Grace starts to re-discover her past life, but forming these memories again comes at a cost...Dead Again has a very impressive opening few minutes; the credits showing various tabloid articles and then the opening scene with Roman Strauss (also Kenneth Branagh) and news reporter Gray Baker (Andy Garcia) was quite chilling and it also allowed Branagh to be Hannibal Lecter for a few minutes.Once the impressive opener is out of the way, the film takes a rather slow-burning approach in developing its story. Yes it is a slow film, but it's not a film that I found boring. As with any good mystery film, all the building blocks are put in place and every scene gradually adds another piece to the puzzle. As a whole, the story is engaging, suspenseful and unpredictable and I must admit for the most part I was interested in how the events were unfolding and in which direction the story was going to take. All these elements are what make the film worth watching. However...I have to admit to being taken surprise by the turn of events later in the film specifically with regards to the idea that both Roman and Margaret had been reincarnated. I mean sure there had to be some link back to their past, but this was not what I was expecting. It becomes even more ludicrous when we learn that they've been reincarnated as different genders. It's one of those twists where I praise it because of how much it surprised me, but also one that I want to condemn for being so ludicrous. However, I'm leaning more towards being positive about because it's a rather unique twist and because it did surprise me. The issue I had with this twist is that it felt like screenwriter Scott Frank was trying to force his own beliefs on to his audience. It isn't implied here that they have been reincarnated or even suggested, but we're actually told that they have been reincarnated. To me, forcing such an agenda on people based on a concept which is merely a myth or superstition is arrogant and rather silly. Don't get me wrong I'm all for exploring the concept of reincarnation and I'm all for getting people thinking about it, but to make believe that it is real is misleading to say the least. It's heavy-handedness like this that brings the film down slightly which is a shame because it is very effective in almost every other area.Despite the heavy-handed and questionable reincarnation twist, the film does get a lot of praise from me for having an involving, suspenseful and unpredictable storyline. Many of the performances here help make the picture enjoyable and the likes of Branagh, Jacobi and Thompson were all excellent - although I only found Branagh compelling as Roman Strauss and didn't think he was as good in his role of private eye Mike Church. Garcia is OK in a supporting role, Williams did OK with what he had to work with - his character was interesting, but his role was severely underwritten. Wayne Knight was annoying and for me was an unnecessary and distracting addition to the film.As it is Dead Again is a very good film, but one that could have been even better with a less heavy-handed approach.