The Fall is one of the most visually striking movies you’re likely to see, but the fantasy element is firmly tied to the emotional resonance of the realistic scenes set in a hospital. Some reviewers have complained that the fantasy element is inconsistent, but it is in fact, for the most part, brilliantly inconsistent. [emphasis his]

A man who has lost the use of his legs tells stories to a child to manipulate her into getting him morphine. He has no interest in internal consistency – and in fact as his aims change and the child’s interests shift, the story shifts, as it should. If the child eventually inhabits the fantasy story, it is because she has taken some ownership of that story. The best description I can give for this movie is that it’s Pan’s Labyrinth meets Baron Munchausen. It has neither the escapist quality of the latter nor the political element of the former. It also features a bit of a self-absorbed bastard as the lead, but he has good reasons for his attitude.

It does look pretty awe-some, and seems like a very unique concept to boot. The non-story (non-fantasy) part can’t be any worse than The Cell, right? That was rhetorical, but if it had an answer, that answer would be “No”.

The Fall only has a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I can see that half of all movie reviewers would not fully understand and/or embrace the concept. I’m pretty sure I’ll be with Jeff, and the 53% of fresh reviewers, on this one, though.