I saw this movie a few years ago, and even though a lot of people seemed to hate it, I really liked it. I worried that it wouldn't hold up to repeated viewings, but I enjoyed it this time around as much as I did the first time I saw it. I also noticed more this time around, which is always fun for me. I think a lot of blowback against this movie is because Lindsay Lohan is in it, and people seem to love to hate on her and dump on her these days. Here's my take on that. first of all, I love Lindsay Lohan. I've loved her since she was a little kid appearing in movies, and I still love her now. Yeah, she's done a lot of stupid shit, but so did I in my 20s, and I've seen a lot of drug abuse and alcoholism and such firsthand and seen them tear people apart, so I'll always be sitting on the sidelines, quietly rooting for Lindsay to make it. I may not know her personally, but I think she's a talented actress, and I've known so many people who have gone through a lot of the things she''s gone through, and it's possible to get your act together and have a life and a career and move on. I'll always be hoping she does that. So no, I'm not going to hate on this movie because she was in it, even if she's done some bad things in her life and in her career. I think she does a good job here with her character (or rather characterS) and it enhances the viewing experience for me seeing her in it, because the movie is so much of art imitating life, as the old Lindsay Lohan (the good girl everyone loved) is contrasted with the new Lindsay Lohan, the bad girl who does everything wrong and lets drugs and alcohol and sex ruin her life. Rings true, now doesn't it?
The movie is about Aubrey, a perfect young college student who has the world at her feet and all the opportunities in the world. One night Aubrey disappears, as many young girls in the area have disappeared, later to be found tortured and dismembered and dead. Aubrey's parents are devastated, until one night Aubrey is found, battered and bloody and missing some body parts, but alive. except she doesn't remember her parents or anything from her life, and she insists she is a stripper named Dakota who has no idea who Aubrey is. The movie follows the FBI and police and Aubrey/Dakota as they try to piece together what the hell is going on. The police are sure she's lying, and Dakota doesn't know what to think since she remembers her life and she sure as hell doesn't remember having all the money and opportunities Aubrey had. Meanwhile, we see flashes of Aubrey being tortured and dismembered, and we wonder what the hell is going on too.
The twist ending is kind of farfetched, sure, but it's something I've seen done to an extent in other movies, something I've also heard happened in a few cases in real life, so it doesn't ring as false as it might otherwise for me, and Lohan's performance manages to keep me engrossed in the movie and wanting to find out what happens next. I enjoy this movie. yeah, some of it is silly. I mean, Lohan plays a stripper who doesn't take her top off (or anything else...those poor guys at the bar aren't even getting their cover charge worth!) and she even leaves her bra on for the sex scene! Come on, it looks silly here, folks. but whatever. The caveats don't keep me from enjoying the movie. It's worth watching, and worth watching again, even.
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