Best movie ever!

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This Movie is about the Suffering of an Abused Child that Grows-Up Dazed and Confused. The Film also Suffers from Inattention on all Levels. Never Released, Ignored by Critics, and Misunderstood as a Horror-Show.Cillian Murphy in a Dual Role is Remarkable. A Good Supporting Cast lend Gravitas to the Proceedings. It is Underwritten, Underplayed, and Under-Appreciated as a Character Study. A Subtle Psychological Study of a Disturbed Individual whose Sequestered Mundane Life is Controlled by Two Competing Personalities.His Existence as a Dual Personality is Completely Unknown to the Small-Town-Folks in 1950's Rural America. Than His Life becomes Literally a Trainwreck and Things Spiral Out of Control. The Movie has many Strengths with an Ending that People Find Weak. Not So.Overall, it's Different, Quirky, On the Edge, and Brilliantly Handled. But in Doing so the Unassuming, Laid-Back Style of the Presentation Alienated Everyone from the Producers to the Viewing Audience. It's an Unforgettable Film that will Find a Cult Following and will be Applauded and Appreciated as Word Gets Out.

I haven't seen this movie yet, but I know that it was filmed in Iowa. I am from Iowa born and raised and am glad to hear that it was filmed here. Apparently there is a part in the movie that states one of the character's was born in Ladora, crazily, that is where I am from. It has about three hundred people here in Iowa. Just wanted to share my excitement about that since most folks in Iowa don't even know of a place called Ladora. Essentially it is mind blowing to hear that you small hometown, that no one knows about is referenced somewhere in a movie. I am gratified to hear about this news, yet feel quite tickled to death. I hope that more movies are made in Iowa, it's a pleasure hosting them.

If you've seen Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, heard about it, talked to somebody who saw it or basically just been alive for any length of time since the movie was first released, you don't need to see Peacock. That's because as well acted as this film is, and as adorable as Ellen Page always is, this is a story about what Norman Bates would be like if he didn't kill people. So, it's like Psycho but without any danger, mystery or purpose. I glanced at the "making of" feature on the DVD and co-writer/director Michael Lander seemed proud that he made a movie that doesn't do anything you expect. That's true, but only because Peacock doesn't do much of anything at all. It hints at this and it alludes to that and it references the other, without ever delving deep into any of its chosen subject matter. This is a well crafted nothing.John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy) is crazy. Most of the time he's himself, an awkward, brittle, almost autistic man who works at a bank and can barely communicate with other human beings. In the mornings, however, he's Emma and she cooks John's breakfast, washes his clothes and peeps through the curtains at the children across the street. And no, John's not a transvestite living in the 1950s small town of Peacock, Nebraska, though I couldn't help thinking that would have made a much more interesting story. John's a full on split personality like Psycho or Sybill or Raising Cain. And it's clear before the opening credits are over that it's because John was abused by his mother.It's unclear how long John has been existing this way but when a railroad accident deposits a train car in his back yard and the whole town of Peacock suddenly learns of John's "wife", that existence starts to change. Emma begins to take over more and more of John's time and becomes a functional person, even as John becomes more frazzled and anguished. Eventually, Emma and John face off over small town whore Maggie (Ellen Page) and her son by John. Co-writer/director Lander apparently thought he could fake out the audience by first making John appear to be the unstable one and Emma the normal personality and then pull the ol' switcheroo, but he only fakes out himself.Peacock is wonderfully performed. Cillian Murphy isn't exactly doing anything you haven't seen before, but his John and Emma are quite well conceived and executed roles. Susan Sarandon as the proto-feminist wife of the town's mayor and Page as the girl from the wrong side of the tracks are really good. Graham Beckel as an avuncular political operative who wants to stage a rally at the train in John's backyard and Bill Pullman as a shifty bank manager are great living scenery. The problem is that at the end of the film, you've seen some nice acting and that's about it.You can sympathize or empathize with the insane but it's awfully hard to identify with a nut job, especially when you're expected to just assume all the reasons why the person is crazy. There are no flashbacks to explain John. There are no digressions to explain Emma. The viewer is simply presented with this loon and is supposed to care about him. Since it's difficult to identify with a whacko, you can try to connect to him through his relationships with normal people. However, Peacock is overstuffed with supporting characters who never interact with John or Emma in more than superficial ways. There's a local cop, the bank manager, a neighbor, the Mayor and even Sarandon and Page's characters never get below the surface of either personality. Maybe if it had only been the triangle of Emma, John and Maggie or if the central conflict was the liberated-for-the-1950s mayor's wife drawing the Emma personality out of John's orbit or if the story's focus had been on the local cop as the closest thing John has to a friend trying to figure out where his never before seen wife came from, maybe that would have given some direction and edge to this motion picture. There's none of that, though. All Peacock has is the twist of trying to make you think John is the bad guy and Emma the heroine, only to flip it around. But he's crazy and she's a delusion. The real twist would have been playing it straight and arguing that madness is sometimes the healthiest and sanest reaction to this world.If you're a fan of actors or don't know what the words "Alfred", "Hitchcock" or "Psycho" mean, you might like Peacock. For the rest of us, it's a waste of time.

Lets be honest here I think Cillian is amazing on any day, OK so Sunshine wasn't a wonderful movie but I still liked him in it.Cillian Murphy is amazingly psychotically bad in "Red Eye" and fantastically whimsical and engrossing in "Breakfast on Pluto". In this movie he is absolutely believable as the off the edge, damaged, suppressed, introverted and terrified of everything John and the outgoing confident and all over wonderful Emma. Helped by the coverings of the clothes of the day both roles are absolutely spot on.Ellen Paige's role lacks the edge of complete confusion that should have gone with the interaction with the two characters and omission of the script rather than the actress.This has only just arrived on video in New Zealand but it is an absolute gem. There are a couple of great touches that highlight really well just how the characters are coping with the situation and they really help illustrate just how repressed and covert things had to be behind closed doors.The film is a really slow build and it is worth the wait. Untypical of the breed you are left with the wonder of how they all would have been after it ended. The sign I think of a satisfying movie - you get to be involved with the people and feel for them. I would have loved to have seen it on the big screen but no such luck although I will try to get the local arty theatre to put it on their list.