One of the toughest things to portray on film is people hacking. A person sitting in front of a computer, typing code, is one of the least eye-grabbing visuals you can create. Some films make it interesting, such as The Social Network, whereas most make it seem silly. This is a problem director Nacho Vigalondo faced head on with his latest film Open Windows. The film’s conceit is to tell the story via one desktop computer, using webcams, security cameras, cell phone cameras and whatever else to show the action through various windows open on the desktop, hence the title Open Windows. He does not so much succeed in making hacking seem interesting, but he does make a capable thriller, though a suspension of disbelief is a requirement.
The desktop we are looking at belongs to Nick Chambers (Elijah Wood). He is a superfan of actress Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey), even running the website jillgoddard-caught.com, which is a real website that you can go to. He believes he has won a contest to have dinner with Jill in Austin after a screening of her latest movie. However, that is not really the case. He becomes the pawn of a man named Chord (Neil Maskell), who contacts Nick over a Skype-like service, in some very nefarious business, including, but not limited to, voyeurism and kidnapping.
I was having to make giant leaps of faith with this movie right from the outset. Chord is so easily able to tap into every computer, every phone, and every power circuit that it just started making me laugh. What I also found troubling was how willing Nick was to go along with everything. He rarely questions Chord and just does all these outrageous things from the word “go”, like setting up a camera to film Jill’s hotel room or even answer the call from Chord in the first place. I do not want to give away any major spoilers here, but with the end, I can understand it more. However, without knowing a crucial bit of information, he just feels like an complete idiot.
That is not so much the fault of Elijah Wood, who is actually quite good in the part. He can sell that nice, innocent persona with a certain edge underneath. He has a little bit of perversion in him, and he can tap into it. Grey is also quite good as the actress/prey. Most of her time is spent in a great amount of distress, and she is fairly believable. I do not know if she is a good actor yet, but she certainly has screen presence, and I think has the potential to get better. Initially, it is a little odd to see her play a character who is worried about having an explicit video of herself get onto the Internet, considering her former occupation, but that thought quickly evaporates.
I do commend Vigalondo for sticking firmly to the desktop conceit of the film. He easily could have cut away from it, especially at a certain moment, but he doesn’t. I respect that. The conceit does not always behoove the story, but the man had a vision and stuck to it. He also uses a wide array of different cameras preventing the action from ever feeling stale. However, when the camera sensors start forming 3D models, I started to check out.
Some of the technology and hacking techniques are just so dumb you cannot help but laugh. There is a big one at the end, which I will not give away, that kind of destroys any realism this film might have had, which was very little by that point. Setting the film ever so slightly in the future may have solved this issue, but we are explicitly told the film is set in “2013”, which hurts its technological believability.
As an Austinite, I do want to quickly point out some stuff. The driving in this film is bananas. They cheat distance so much. Distance is not even important to the story, but as someone who knows the streets, it was very distracting. Also, the Drafthouse they shot at is the South Lamar Drafthouse, before it was remodeled and reopened a little over a month ago, which was nice to see. (Note: It is a terrific theater, and if you are in Austin or are visiting soon, go there.)
Back to the important stuff. This film is dumb fun. Yes, it is ludicrous. Yes, the conceit wears out its welcome at points. Yes, the film’s plot twists could not conceivably happen. Yes, the technology is pretty stupid. I still did not actively dislike it. Wood, Grey, and Maskell are engaging enough, and Vigalondo keeps a quick enough pace to pull you through the story and help you with those leaps. They cannot help you with every leap, just some of them. If you want to throw something on with a group of friends that is rather mindless, go for it. It is not a film to hate.
