Dan Franzen (dfranzen70) Spider is a fascinating story of a mentally ill man, released to a halfway house from a sanatorium, who attempts to piece together the events that led to his lengthy hospital stay. Along the way, reality and his memories clash, blend, and intertwine.At first, Spider (Ralph Fiennes) does not seem to be a prime candidate for release from a mental hospital. He speaks in tremulous mumbles, has a hunched-over limp, and frequently eyes the ground for items of interest. He takes up residence in a dilapidated group home run by the tyrannical Mrs. Wilkinson (Lynn Redgrave) and makes tentative friends with some of the residents, notably Terrence (John Neville).Spider has a small suitcase containing memories from his childhood and a journal in which he records his investigations into his past - in the sort of indecipherable scribble that even ancient Babylonians would consider illegible. Or maybe it was shorthand. Either way, Joe Viewer won't be able to read it.He flashes back to his days living with his doting mother (Miranda Richardson) and loutish father (Gabriel Byrne). Little Spider, who seems different somehow, looks to be more of an obstacle to his father, who frequently needs "rescuing" from the local pub around dinner time. His father's lifestyle and mother's lack of empowerment lead to a short sequence of events that ends in tragedy, something the viewer only learns late in the film.But the mystery of Spider's past is only part of the story. Cronenberg deftly moves between the past and present; in many scenes, grown-up Spider watches events involving his younger self, at least the way he remembered it. The temporal fugue allows Spider a new perspective on his past and fills in gaps in his memories. But it's really a test of his own mental faculties: after facing up to what happened all of those years ago, is he truly ready for society? Why is he in a halfway house? Why this one in particular? Fiennes is aces, as is Richardson in a dual role. I loved seeing John Neville, if only in a few scenes, and even Gabriel Byrne does an okay job. That's not easy for Gabriel Byrne.

Matt Kony This is the kind of movie some apathetic Professor at a community college somewhere in the American Midwest might allow his Psychology 101 class to watch on the Friday before Spring Break. (possibly with a short multiple choice exam at the end, to make sure everyone was paying attention) Which isn't to say it's a bad movie. Some might find it boring. To me, it was interesting. But more than anything, it's educational. There is hardly any plot. So I feel I must analyze how a movie with no plot can be interesting: Not long after being introduced to the strange character 'Spider,' we start to wonder, "what in the hell happened to make him so... you know... awkward?" We experience flashback after flashback, as he puzzles out his tragic childhood while sitting down in a local café drinking very sugary coffee, or at a community garden near the freeway, writhing in the dirt between rows of tomato plants. We feel progressively saddened and perplexed as the memories progress.Another source of suspense: after Spider starts to get on the "Tyrant Queen" of the boardinghouse's bad side. What will happen when she finds out Spider stole her keys? When she finds out he has been keeping possible contraband items, like dirty photographs and a cryptographic journal? Not to mention the poor fellow who rattles on about Africa. A DARK CONTINTENT. WHERE A MAN CANNOT PUT HIS FOOT INTO THE TOE OF HIS BOOT WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING STUNG BY A SCORPION. A SLOW DEATH. 18 HOURS. (Sorry, I loved that part.) What's going to happen to him?***SPOILER ALERT***This movie gets away with being fairly 'boring' because it is, fundamentally, a case study on Schizophrenia- Specifically, the Capgras delusion, in which a person comes to believe that a close friend or family member has been replaced by an impostor. Ralph Fiennes does a pretty good job acting like one of those 'crazy' homeless people you see in a big city shuffling & mumbling down the sidewalk. He smokes roll your own cigarettes. He drinks way too much coffee. At the boarding house, he gets frustrated at puzzle of a seagull and scattering all the pieces across the rec room floor. Probably most of us were like, "I know that guy! He was outside Starbucks the other day asking me for change!"Those people are interesting, because we don't understand them, which makes this movie interesting.This movie, which follows Spider's point of view as he drifts in and out of memories and delusions, does a pretty good job of recreating what a schizophrenic person's thought process MIGHT be like.So now we know what it might like to be Schizophrenic. And we ask ourselves, Oh no, what if I'm Schizophrenic, but I don't know it yet? And then we spend the next half hour pacing around our apartment worrying, piecing together our childhoods.It's a pretty good movie.

dushyant chaturvedi The titular Spider is Ralph Fiennes who has just been discharged from the mental institute. He takes residence in a home which houses other people from the hospital who have been let out. While he is there, he recreates his childhood and observes how his father behaved with his mom. This must have been a very difficult movie to make. The lead actor practically does not speak for any substantial length and has few dialogues. Hence it would have been a very tough challenge for the director to keep the viewers interested. I am very glad that the David Cronenberg bested the challenge and made this into a very gripping piece of cinema. Fiennes is off the charts brilliant. His brooding intensity and the way he mumbles really has to be seen to be believed. This is his best performance after Schindler's List in my opinion and my respect for him as an actor has increased tremendously. The direction is superb. The way the past and the present blend together gives new meaning to the word smooth. Loved it totally. 3.5 out of 5. Must watch for fans of gripping drama and great acting

aceellaway2010 I watched this movie a couple of nights ago. The Miranda Richardson's characters did give a clue about the outcome. But I think the performances were uniformly good, particularly Ralph Fiennes, although he does seem to be a bit type cast now. One minor but disconcerting flaw- unless someone can enlighten me. When The Father and the tart are making out under the bridge, she apparently gives him masturbation to the point of ejaculation, which she after he comes shakes off her hand. Well, if the Fiennes character, did not observe this, and the tart was a creation, this incident would not have occurred, so in fact it would appear to have been inserted without any logical explanation as to why it's there.