The Eavesdropper Movie Review

Points for originality, I'd say. First-time writer/director Andrew Bakalar (IMDB lists only two craft services -- catering -- credits for Alien Avengers and Humanoids from the Deep) turns in an interesting film out of what ought to be a direct-to-video experience. The Eavesdropper is high concept all the way: Government experiment turns a newly deaf patient (Lucy Jenner) into a superhearing machine. In fact, she can hear people's thoughts, which makes her an expert hostage negotiator and potentially awesome military intelligence operator. But it's also a bit tricky, because she can hear the motivations of the doctors who are poking and prodding her (including Star Trek alumni John de Lancie and George Takei).

Naturally there's a conspiracy here and a woman in jeopardy, and before the end our heroine will turn the tables on everyone, right? Yeah, and that's fine. Jenner is a solid actress -- reminiscent of another Trekker, Michelle Forbes -- and she does all that can be expected with a rather rote script. Supporting cast is on target, but the whole effect is rather muted. Too much time is spent meandering on tangents that never really pay off or, worse, that we just don't care about. The entire film is bookended with unnecessary backstory and future-story about the woman's life. It comes across a bit too much like padding.

The audio effect of the "overheard thoughts" is quite effective. I caught myself trying to control them from time to time during my viewing of this DVD -- lest the wife secretly have the power to hear them as well. Overall: Creepy, and a good first effort from Bakalar.