After Alice

R 5.3
2000 1 hr 40 min Thriller

A washed-up detective discovers his own psychic ability when assigned to investigate a serial murder case. The killer has a deranged obsession with the novel "Alice in Wonderland." As the psychopath's bloody reign of terror continues, the cop spirals deeper and deeper into the case where the horrors of the past and present come together.

  • Cast:
    Kiefer Sutherland , Henry Czerny , Polly Walker , Gary Hudson , Ronn Sarosiak , Jason Jones , Martha Gibson

Reviews

Fluentiama
2000/01/01

Perfect cast and a good story

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Exoticalot
2000/01/02

People are voting emotionally.

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MoPoshy
2000/01/03

Absolutely brilliant

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StyleSk8r
2000/01/04

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

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Peter Grunbaum
2000/01/05

I really liked this movie. If other people want to give it an average around 5.0/10 that's their choice. I would give it higher. Sutherland's performance as a private eye is totally awesome. The story is amazing, human, exciting, intelligent. The dialogue is good. The story might not be perfect but anyway - the mood of the movie is good enough to compensate for that. Moreover, the ending is incredibly cool and their the jig-saw puzzle really comes back to together. So anyway I liked it. I also thought the female lead actress performed very well. I'm not a big fan of detective movies but this one was really good, also because it doesn't give a damn about conventions of the supernatural.

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user-38
2000/01/06

Working the night shift in a seedy police station, stumbling through life in an alcoholic haze, Detective Mickey Hayden can hardly be said to have a firm grasp on reality to begin with, but when a bump on the head unleashes terrifying psychic visions, things get truly weird. Soon he's on the trail of a serial killer and unraveling the mystery of his beautiful first victim, the elusive Alice.The role of an embittered burn-out seems tailor-made for Keifer Sutherland and he makes the most of it. The plot's typical serial killer stuff, but it has enough quirks, twists, and genuine surprises to raise it above the usual genre fare and even make up for a painfully low budget. (One wonders what this film could have been if there'd been money for a few more rewrites and a few more takes.)All in all, 'After Alice' is a pleasant diversion for anyone, but for fans of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' books, it's a real treat. From the topsy-turvy reality in which things are rarely what they've seem, to more obvious references -- a killer called 'The Jabberwocky', who leaves playing cards on his victims' bodies -- there's an 'Alice' reference at every turn. Below is a list of the ones I uncovered. Since finding them yourself is half the fun, I've marked them as spoilers.SPOILERSCast of CharactersMickey - In a sense he's Alice himself wandering through strange landscapes, encountering odd characters, but Harvey, recognizing his true nature, identifies him as the hapless, bumbling White Knight. John Hatter (Mickey's boss) - Is he really 'mad'? You be the judgeClaudette - An African-American transvestite. Obviously, the Black QueenMargaret Ellison - Mickey calls her the Red Queen, but her brutal nature suggests, more specifically, the Queen of Hearts.Gideon Wood - Suspected of being the Jabberwocky killer, his ambiguous role is more suggestive of a snark (or a boojum perhaps).Harvey - His role as unofficial guide to 'wonderland' and his name, evocative of another famous cinematic rabbit, makes me think he must be the White RabbitDr. Vera Swann - Her last name and relationship with Mickey suggest the White Queen.Other ConnectionsMickey's adventures begin when he chases a man in white and falls down a (rabbit) hole. Mickey drunkenly tells his cat to stop grinning at him (Cheshire Cat)The killer is revealed 'through the looking glass'.The climatic showdown ends in a swirl of playing cards, just as Alice's adventure did in the book.The statues in the garden look like giant chess pieces.

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LP Spurlock (lpspurlock)
2000/01/07

This movie kept me on the edge of my seat... although after a certain point I knew who was doing what and so forth. I'm not a bad fan of Kiefer but he didn't do half bad in the movie. Whoever writes these type of movies deserve a pat on the back because they play with your mind just enough to where it is a look of surprise when you realize the plot unfolding into your lap. I'd gave it a thumbs up.

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Len-15
2000/01/08

ALICE is the kind of movie they made in the 30's and 40's. Never attempts to be an "event". Just wants to entertain. And it does. I was surprised by Kiefer Sutherland. In a role that could be a cliche, he made it real. The plot does make allusions to ALICE IN WONDERLAND. A guy dressed in white does go through a hole and Kiefer does fall down one. Like ALICE the plot does twist and turn, but with a freshness you don't see in small movies. I loved the direction, Sutherland, just a very fast paced and interesting movie.

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