The Speed of Thought

2011 "They know Everything but the Truth"
4.8| 1h34m| en
Details

Joshua Lazarus (Nick Stahl) is a telepath who has been raised in a NSA foster home. Lazarus helps the government by using his abilities. He is told by the agency that the telepathy is a side effect of Widmann's Disease, and that he will become insane in time and eventually die from the illness. However, Lazarus meets a woman with similar powers (Mía Maestro) who does not have any sign of the disease, launching Lazarus to confront the lies he has been told

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Reviews

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
shivajimji Previous reviewers panned this story. I enjoyed it. I thought the leads did a good job, especially Mia M. I thought she was a knockout for her interesting role as the hombre who breaks up the psychic cartel of the NSA. I also like the idea of someone breaking ups the NSA too, if you know what I mean. The script isn't that bad, as you can see from the "did you know" quotes at this site. Budget? I thought it's low key accentuated the interpersonal. It is essentially a romantic movie. It is interesting that most of the romantic action occurred in the head rather than between naked bodies, although that might have been nice too. Yah, maybe it will be big budget someday with Keneau R., but science fiction is all about suspending your doubts and playing along. For me, I enjoyed playing along. I thought the end was a nice surprise also. It was worth the time on Netflix free play.
westerfield Once in a great while a science fiction film will make you think. Bladerunner wasone. But they spent millions making it. Speed of Thought does it on asmall budget. There's little action but lots of talking. Many reviewers down grade it for that. However, I rate it along side another great all-talk film, Creation of the Humanoids. It gets the same poor reviews by some but many rate it 8-10 stars. Forget running gun battles. Listen to the philosophy. Examine the wonderful plot. Think of the implications. Think.The leads are adequate but veterans Blair Brown and Wallace Shawn ground the film in reality. The way the telepathy is imagined on film is the best concept I've seen. This is how you make a good film on a small budget.
ferreiragon I have followed this writer and director and he reminded me of Ed Wood. Quite creative and almost ridiculous plots mixed up with a director's cut where things can change magically with distorted almost funny and confusing logic (if there is any). So, if you watch this movie and also the other ones from the same writer/director you will find things that are quite funny if you take these movies as made by a contemporary Ed Wood. The funny thing as it happened with Ed Wood, is that they are done with the intention of doing art cinema though the result is absurd and makes you laugh. Doing this in a delicate balance with no intention of being funny having the opposite result is not for anyone...that is why I give it an 8!!
TheHrunting In the wake of the ultra budget blockbuster super-hero flicks, "The Speed of Thought" enters as a small link on the chain in the people-with-special-abilities genre. There are going to be less camera setups, bombastic-less music, no flashy costumes but instead more story and dialogue to concentrate on.A telepath named Joshua Lazarus (Nick Stahl), who works covertly for the NSA branch of the government, has a degenerative disease as a result of his ability. He's told no one survives past 28 yet the pills he's given will stale the inevitable. He's got nothing to lose if there's no future ahead of him, so he hangs loose with drinking, gambling, call girls and awaits madness to take hold, as the voices that were once controllable start to pile up. A light at the end of the tunnel appears and he gains some hope on one of his last missions in Uruguay when he meets an attractive woman named Anna (Mia Maestro) who also has the mind-reading ability known as "scoping." Joshua has a mentor named Sandy (Wallace Shawn) who runs "The Home" in which special people of his kind are kept for training and treatment. Sandy eases the pressure of withering away with sympathetic talks as he's dealt with many in the same situation. His slightly older friend Kira (Taryn Manning) starts to show symptoms before himself, yet at the same time she oddly starts to gain some new abilities. With Anna, Joshua finds a true connection when they mind meld memories together. Instead of showing shots of the characters' faces in person and a voice over top, this switches to an isolated area that has them dreamily talking to each other face-to face in what looks like they're physically standing there.This is as much of a slow moving drama as it's a love-at-first-telepathic-reading type of movie in the vicinity of "Hereafter" though without being exactly the same. Joshua and Anna form a forbidden connection as she's a natural who could never share her secret and he swore secrecy to the people he works for who keep a very close eye on him. They become personal in their heads but yearn for that physical touch. Together they make an attempt to get away from it all to be together no matter where that is but are sucked back into it when the company gets hot on their tail and some revelations are unveiled about who's really who and what it all means."The Speed of Thought" is a simple movie to escape with as you get the special abilities side that comes with its own set of rules and there is also some romance to make it more personable. If they shaved off some time it would have made a decent enough hour long TV pilot to get engaged in. But as is, the dialogue frequently overemphasizes to nail the point home and it causes the flow to get stuck in a lower gear and become somewhat tedious. Blair Brown, who plays the boss, feels tight casted from Fringe. There's some chemistry among the characters though it doesn't always leave much to read between the lines for what they're feeling or how it works. Usually filmmakers find a balance in the middle of stating the obvious and being too vague yet this continually steps over the line towards the former. Confusion--nope. Subtlety--what's that? Nearly every thought and movement is laid out in plain view, which sucks out the passion and challenge after awhile when it started out on a higher note. For a film about the mind, the dialogue doesn't always leave much to the imagination and drags down some of the rest of the film with oversimplification. (Also submitted on Cinema Freaks, http://docuniverse.blogspot.com)