Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10033 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Synopsis
In remaking the 1996 French thriller L'APPARTEMENT, director Paul McGuigan transplants the story to the snow-covered Windy City, Chicago. Josh Hartnett is Matthew, a good-looking young man who has a great job and an even greater girlfriend. But just before he's about to get on a plane to China and score his first major account, the past comes back to haunt him. Matthew runs into his good friend Luke (Matthew Lillard), who is dating a mysterious actress, Alex (Rose Byrne). Suddenly he is reminded of Lisa (Diane Kruger), a beautiful dancer he dated years before. But the day after he asked her to move in with him, Lisa disappeared. Now Matthew's search for his long lost love is renewed. The harder he looks, the more the truth gradually, and devastatingly, begins to reveal itself. McGuigan's stylish, convoluted thriller shifts between the past and present, preventing viewers from solving the puzzle until the film's closing act. Featuring an outstanding soundtrack from some of modern rock's most celebrated artists (Coldplay, Mazzy Star, Broken Social Scene), WICKER PARK also boasts engaging performances from its cast of pretty young faces.

Customer Reviews

An interesting and thoughtful thriller
Despite it's high profile cast (including Josh Hartnett and Matt Lillard) this movie `Wicker Park' feels like an independent movie with its rather quirky yet intelligent storyline, clever use of flashbacks and off-the-wall cinematography.
Perhaps much of that is related to its source material (a French movie). But whatever the reason - I felt myself drawn into this world as a man (Hartnett) throws his career and impending wedding to the wind in an obsessive search for a woman who walked out on him two years earlier.
For anyone who has loved and lost, this movie will strike a chord with you, certainly the girls who watched this movie with me loved it and were left sitting on the edge of their seats as it drew to a close. The acting is simply superb and even Hartnett (who has less than impressed me previously) turns in a convincing performance as a man who seems to awaken out of a trance following a fateful walk to the house telephone at a restaurant.
The movie opens with Hartnett engaged to Rebecca and meeting with his future brother-in-law at a restaurant to conclude details on a merger between his company and a Chinese company. But, as he waits for the house phone to become available he overhears the voice of his former lover who disappeared two years previously and the race is on to find her.
With much of the movie told in flashbacks we learn the details of what happened in the past and are kept two steps ahead of the Hartnett character, who finds another woman in the girls apartment, a friend who is lying to him about an affair with a woman and all manner of machinations that leads him to question his own senses and judgement.
With a very satisfying explanation and some wonderful performances this movie surprisingly delivers. I usually am not a person drawn to independent-type movies but this one is a hit with me.
This DVD is a little short on extras. There are some deleted scenes that offer nothing new, a rather lame and uninteresting audio commentary and a selection of trailers. Perhaps the best special feature (and certainly the only one I enjoyed) is a gag reel, but its all too short.
An interesting, thoughtful romantic drama of a movie, this one is worth a look.

Better than the reviews here suggest...
I'm unsure why this film has taken a beating on here - I watched this last night, not knowing at that time it was a remake of a French film and in that context, Wicker Park as a stand alone film (which in my opinion is how it should be judged as lets face it what film is totally original these days) is really rather jolly good, the most gripped I've been to a movie for some time.

I was a little weary to begin with, I don't do chick flicks, Josh Hartnett was good in Lucky Number Slevin so I was willing to give this a go and my recommendation to anyone in a similar wavering opinion like mine - just watch it. A Man (Hartnett) doesn't go on a business trip to China because he thinks he sees his ex girlfriend, whom he hasn't seen for two years, in a restuarant... that's just the beginning...

Some might get confused during the middle, but if you stick at it and pay attention, everything is more than clearly explained and by the final 20/30 mins you really are hooked and want to know what is going happen, I was preying for a satisfactory conclusion and thanfully there is one.

It really is the best film I've seen in a while, certainly the past couple of months and I've seen a few. I cannot say I would compare this film to Vanilla Sky as some here have done - I liked both, but this film is nothing at all like Vanilla Sky. End of really.

This isn't five out of five as the star rating would suggest, but until amazon sort out half stars, I'd give it that as it was better than 4/5.

I will watch the French version of this and see why this has taken a beating, but personally I think they did a great job with this film.

Overall 4.5 out of 5

A STORY OF LOVE LOST AND FOUND...
This film, which sort of promised another "Single White Female" or "Fatal Attraction" in the trailers, delivers something else altogether. Matthew (Josh Hartnett), a young, handsome, Chicago businessman is scheduled to leave for China on a business trip. While on a business lunch, shortly before his departure, he suddenly hears a voice that brings back memories. He catches a glimpse of the woman speaking and believes her to be Lisa (Diane Kruger), the woman whom he passionately loved two years before but who had totally and mysteriously disappeared from his life, seemingly without a trace. As she rushes out of the restaurant, Matthew is unable to catch up with her, as his current girl friend is with him.

Still, he is so taken with what he thinks that he has heard and seen that he decides to chuck his trip to China and, instead, search for his heart's desire. His best friend, Luke (Matthew Lillard), helps him, after Matthew lays it out for him. Meanwhile, Luke is having his own troubles with Alex (Rose Byrne), his current main squeeze. Matthew's investigative efforts eventually lead him to an apartment that he believes to be Lisa's, only to find another woman there who calls herself Lisa but who is not the Lisa that he is looking for. To his surprise, this Lisa seems to have the hots for him, and he initially responds accordingly.

Nonethelees, he continues the search for his Lisa, and the viewer eventually sees them pass each other, as two ships in the night, so close, yet so far, seemingly kept apart by fate. Will they ever connect, and why have they not managed to find each other before this? These are the questions that the viewer begins to ask, and it is this that is at the crux of the film. There is more than fate at work here. There is an obstacle to their reunion, and what that obstacle is and why will soon become apparent to the viewer.

The first half of the movie is told with numerous flashbacks, as the director weaves in what happened two years before with the current state of affairs (pun intended). Unfortunately, it is done in such a clumsy way as to leave the viewer somewhat confused. The second half of the film is much better, as the flashbacks appear to make more sense and the veil begins to be lifted. The film actually starts to achieve some semblance of coherence and clarity. The eventual interconnection between the characters is interesting, but what the film delivers to the viewer is a far cry from what was promised by the film's trailers.

Rose Byrne gives an excellent performance in a role that demands much from her. Matthew Lillard is fun to watch, as always. Josh Hartnett, to my surprise, as I am a fan of his, gives a performance that is almost laughable. I was actually embarrassed for him. Diane Kruger does a credible job with her role. Still, given the direction of the film, it is easy to see why this film bombed at the box office.