Twisted (film)
Encyclopedia
Twisted is a 2004 American thriller film written by Sarah Thorp and directed by Philip Kaufman
. It stars Ashley Judd
, Samuel L. Jackson
and Andy García
. The film is set in San Francisco, California
.
, Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd
) is a rising officer in the San Francisco Police Department
. She is transferred to the Homicide division and promoted to the rank of Inspector.
Her deceased father's former partner, John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson
), serves as her proud mentor. The recently promoted Jessica finds that she might once again have to prove herself in a department that takes no prisoners.
When one of her former one night stands is murdered, she and her new partner, Mike Delmarco (Andy García
), are assigned to the case. Shepard, who also has a drinking problem, soon falls under suspicion. Three more murders follow, all of whose victims have had relationships with her.
Shepard begins to experience a mental breakdown, blacking out for increasingly long periods of time. Her father, a police patrolman, had gone on a killing spree back in the 1970s and then murdered her mother. She begins to fear that she has the same violent tendencies and that she has been committing murder in her disorganized state.
With only her mentor's support she must find the perpetrator and clear her name, before she becomes the murderer's next victim.
Finally Shepard finds out that Mills is the killer. He killed all of her lovers, as well as her parents, because he considered it his mission to prevent her growing up to be a disolute woman like her own mother. As her father's partner, he had felt the responsibility to inform him that his wife was a nymphomaniac, which drove him insane.
As he had also had an illicit affair with Shepard's mother, and took offense to her behavior, he felt the need to kill her and her lovers. Also ashamed that he destroyed his partner's marriage and drove him insane, he decided to put him out of his misery by killing him. During his confession, Shepard secretly transmits Mills confession on a mobile phone allowing her old partner to track them down. When Mills tries to shoot her partner, Shepard shoots him in the chest and he falls off the dock. The film closes on him drifting on the ocean surface surrounded by sea lions...as the cops look on.
. One reviewer described the role-reversal of the film as "contrived", while allowing that the film "may dole out a few guilty pleasures".
and Canada
and $15,756,005 in other territories for a combined worldwide gross of $40,954,603 - well below the film's production budget of $50 million.
and Titus Welliver
, who also appear together in the ABC
series Lost
, as Jacob and "The Man In Black
" respectively.
They were also the cast in the roles of the angel Lucifer and War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in the series "Supernatural
".
Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...
. It stars Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
, Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
and Andy García
Andy García
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
. The film is set in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Plot
Having solved a high profile case involving a serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
, Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
) is a rising officer in the San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
. She is transferred to the Homicide division and promoted to the rank of Inspector.
Her deceased father's former partner, John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
), serves as her proud mentor. The recently promoted Jessica finds that she might once again have to prove herself in a department that takes no prisoners.
When one of her former one night stands is murdered, she and her new partner, Mike Delmarco (Andy García
Andy García
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
), are assigned to the case. Shepard, who also has a drinking problem, soon falls under suspicion. Three more murders follow, all of whose victims have had relationships with her.
Shepard begins to experience a mental breakdown, blacking out for increasingly long periods of time. Her father, a police patrolman, had gone on a killing spree back in the 1970s and then murdered her mother. She begins to fear that she has the same violent tendencies and that she has been committing murder in her disorganized state.
With only her mentor's support she must find the perpetrator and clear her name, before she becomes the murderer's next victim.
Finally Shepard finds out that Mills is the killer. He killed all of her lovers, as well as her parents, because he considered it his mission to prevent her growing up to be a disolute woman like her own mother. As her father's partner, he had felt the responsibility to inform him that his wife was a nymphomaniac, which drove him insane.
As he had also had an illicit affair with Shepard's mother, and took offense to her behavior, he felt the need to kill her and her lovers. Also ashamed that he destroyed his partner's marriage and drove him insane, he decided to put him out of his misery by killing him. During his confession, Shepard secretly transmits Mills confession on a mobile phone allowing her old partner to track them down. When Mills tries to shoot her partner, Shepard shoots him in the chest and he falls off the dock. The film closes on him drifting on the ocean surface surrounded by sea lions...as the cops look on.
Reception
Despite its well-established director and cast, Twisted received almost extremely negative reviews with a 2% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. One reviewer described the role-reversal of the film as "contrived", while allowing that the film "may dole out a few guilty pleasures".
Box office
The film generated $25,198,598 in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and $15,756,005 in other territories for a combined worldwide gross of $40,954,603 - well below the film's production budget of $50 million.
Cast
- Ashley JuddAshley JuddAshley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
as Jessica Shepard - Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
as John Mills - Andy GarcíaAndy GarcíaAndrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
as Mike Delmarco - David StrathairnDavid StrathairnDavid Russell Strathairn is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for portraying journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck...
as Dr. Melvin Frank - Russell WongRussell WongRussell Girard Wong is an American actor and photographer, as well as the brother of actor/model Michael Wong.-Biography:...
as Lieutenant Tong - Camryn ManheimCamryn ManheimCamryn Manheim is an American actress known primarily for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's The Practice and Delia Banks on CBS's Ghost Whisperer and as Elvis's mother, Gladys Presley in the 2005 mini-series Elvis....
as Lisa - Mark PellegrinoMark PellegrinoMark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
as Jimmy Schmidt - Titus WelliverTitus WelliverTitus Welliver is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring roles on the television shows Deadwood, Lost, Sons of Anarchy and The Good Wife...
as Dale Becker - D.W. MoffettD.W. MoffettDonald Warren Moffett is an American actor known for the recurring role of Joe McCoy on the NBC series Friday Night Lights since 2008, and as Dean Winston on The WB series, For Your Love.-Early life:...
as Ray Porter - Richard T. JonesRichard T. JonesRichard Timothy Jones is an American film and television actor.Jones was born in Kobe, Japan and raised in Carson, California. He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player and the hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians. He also has an older...
as Wilson Jefferson - Leland OrserLeland OrserLeland Jones Orser is an American film and television actor. Orser is a character actor, whose career has included playing a number of deranged, psychotic, and degenerate characters. Orser has appeared in small roles in a wide variety of films and television shows, including Chief of Surgery Dr...
as Edmund Cutler - James Oliver Bullock as John Flanagan
- William HallWilliam HallWilliam Nelson Hall VC was the first black person, first Nova Scotian, and third Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross...
as Chip Marshall - Joe Duer as Larry Geber
- Jim Hechim as Bob Sherman
Trivia
Featured in this movie are Mark PellegrinoMark Pellegrino
Mark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
and Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring roles on the television shows Deadwood, Lost, Sons of Anarchy and The Good Wife...
, who also appear together in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, as Jacob and "The Man In Black
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
" respectively.
They were also the cast in the roles of the angel Lucifer and War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in the series "Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
".