Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

blanche-2 Charlotte Rampling stars in I, Anna from 2012, directed by her son Barnaby Southcombe, who also wrote the screenplay.It's the rather disjointed, noir-ish story of a woman, Anna (Rampling) and her relationship with a police detective Bernie Reid (Gabriel Byrne) who is searching for a killer. He becomes obsessed with Anna, who is attractive, sexy, divorced, with a daughter and granddaughter.Charlotte Rampling has always been a unique actress. She's kind of a modern-day Lauren Bacall, androgynous, a wonderful actress who has allowed herself to age like a normal human being. Here she shows her sexuality and her beauty as the audience learns more and more about her.The film skips around a lot and can be confusing at times. There is also a character, a young guy, who has no reason to be in the movie at all. Not only is his subplot not developed, we never find out how it ends.Actually we don't find out how anything ends in this film. We think that someone is going to explain everything that went on but they don't. If the photography is strange, it's also beautifully done. There's no question that Barnaby Southcombe has talent; it just needs to be developed a little more. With a better script and with all the fine actors in the film, this could have been a knockout.

nzpedals There are so many strands that make up the story, and very little to connect them together. But it is well worth watching a second (or more) time just to get the whole picture (!)Charlotte Rampling is so good, so convincing as the middle-aged woman, now separated and living with a daughter and grandchild. But there is a past incident, very important to what else is happening, briefly referred to a couple of times that isn't really explained - perhaps a tragedy involving another child? Every now and then, there is a flashback with Anna now wearing a bright red dress. That's a signal to us to change our focus and concentrate and try to join the scenes together.Gabriel Byrne is the cop who becomes attracted (no surprise there!) to Anna. A very good performance.

zif ofoz This is one of those trick flicks that tosses out multiple characters with multiple stories making you think it will all come together at some point. Ha Ha! You won't find that here!The most this flick gives is a few artsy views of London made all moody with overcast skies. The story jumps around, cops race around, Anna is forever on the move with that fractured wrist. And just what was that teenage guy up to? It's never made clear.Loose ends throughout. But I stuck with it thinking it would all come together.By the end of the movie you want to just scream "JUMP - PLEASE"!

tomsview Any film starring Charlotte Rampling is worth watching just for her presence alone - even after nearly fifty years in the movies, she still adds an enigmatic quality that's hard to define.She is very much centre stage in "I, Anna". Not so surprising really, it was directed by her son, Barnaby Southcombe, who, it must be said, directed his mum in some pretty challenging scenes.The story is complex and hard to follow. Although it does make more sense by the end, it isn't by much. It is also a film that may have visited the "is it real or is it just imagined" plot one time too many.The story has a number of strands that eventually wind together. Anna Welles (Charlotte Rampling) is searching for a relationship through a speed-dating club run by Louise (Caroline Catz). She lives with her daughter, Emmy (Hayley Atwell) and baby grand daughter - or does she?Gabriel Byrne as policeman, DCI Bernie Reid, is investigating the murder of a middle-aged man in a high-rise apartment. During the course of his investigation, he meets Anna in the apartment building, but later, she doesn't remember the occasion at all. Reid follows Anna and joins the dating club to make contact with her.The film also involves a young guy who shared the unit with the murdered man. However, without giving too much of the plot away, I feel that Anna and DCI Reid's motivations remain unclear even at the end. Is she a femme fatale or just delusional? Is he captivated by her or using an unorthodox method to solve the murder case? The film is just too obscure all the way through - like a sketch that needed a lot more colour and brushwork to finish it off.A movie such as "I, Anna" must also compete with first class, movie-length television series such as "Vera", "Lewis" and "Wallander" to name a few, which have complicated, well thought out plots and brilliant characterisations - the competition is hefty, and I don't think "I, Anna", after a promising start, really ups the ante all that much.Despite the presence of the perennially enigmatic Charlotte Rampling, the story is just too thin, and has a denouement that we've seen before in other movies.