Trance - Inception, but with less action

Wow! I thought, as the first ten minutes of `Trace' went by - it's like an updated version of Danny Boyle's masterpiece `Trainspotting.' Everything said Trainspotting to begin with - the narration, the direction, the quick cutting and the way the main character told us the `rules' of the world we were about to see.

Then it all sort of changed. Yes, the direction was still slick. London shows off its coolest side with the buildings and architecture and Danny Boyle does what he's best at by showing off his style as much as possible.

It's about a gang of art thieves of misplace their latest stolen painting and turn to a hypnotherapist to retrieve the information from the man who had forgotten where he put it. And that's the story. The hypnotherapist trying to get the information. Because of the nature of `delving into people's minds,' we're able to play around with reality in the way the story is told. All this reminded me of Inception (albeit without the folding streets) and, once again, it all looks visually amazing.

You've heard of `style over substance;' well this is more a case of `style over story.' Trance looks amazing. But the story could be summed up in about half an hour and it doesn't warrant the full ninety minutes treatment. Yes, there are some twists and turns along the way that you might not see coming, but the characters themselves - being thieves - are a pretty unlikeable bunch who I doubt you'll care much about their fate.

Trance - once again - proves that Danny Boyle is a master of making things look cool and stylish. However, I just got a bit bored with the lack of story. It's not a terrible movie, it's just it could have been so much better. I see that there's plenty of people who have given it five star reviews. I expect Trance is a film that (some of us) need to sit down and watch again to fully appreciate. I may just have to do that.

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back