* Don’t bother ** Rent it *** Matinee material **** Worth seeing ***** Exceptional

Dropping into my seat to see Premonition, a new psychological thriller starring Sandra Bullock, I had the sinking sensation that I would leave the theater extremely pissed off. I just knew that the movie would be a disappointment, teasing me with intrigue and suspense each step of the way, yet failing to deliver a Sixth Sense-caliber climax. Instead, it would limp to the finish line, a lame, USA movie-of-the-week mess.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that I was merely transferring my own personal inadequacies onto the movie, but, what the hell — I went ahead and wrote half of this review right there on the spot before the credits even rolled. Random words appeared on the page before me; sweet-sounding sentences that were sure to propel the reader’s eyes down, down, down to the bottom of the page like a nymphomaniacal submarine.

It was safe to say that I’d need to give a brief outline of the plot; mentioning how Linda Hanson (Bullock) — a housewife living the suburban American dream, complete with a pristine house and two adorable daughters — wakes up one morning to find that her husband Jim (Nip/Tuck’s Julian McMahon) has been killed in an automobile accident. Brutally killed, I should add. Decapitated even, as we later learn when his casket is clumsily dropped right in front of the newly bereaved widow.

The odd thing is that, in spite of seeing her husband’s pretty face rolling around on the sidewalk with her very own eyes, Linda remains unconvinced that he’s actually dead. At least, not yet.

That’s because some mornings she wakes up to find him downstairs eating toast. Or upstairs taking a shower. Or at work, flirting with a co-worker.

Clearly all is not as it seems.

OK, so now would be a good time for me to come clean and admit that I didn’t write any of this review in advance. But I took up a good amount of space trying to convince you that I did. And that’s pretty much how Premonition plays out. We’re given all sorts of dramatic red herrings (one day Linda is taken away to a psychiatric ward, the next, she stumbles across a mysterious dead crow) all of which are ultimately irrelevant.

Premonition, in the end, has more up its sleeve than mere thrills and chills. Namely, lots and lots of good acting by Sandra Bullock. Seriously. Although she seems like a more than nice enough person, I’ve never been too keen on her previous work. I don’t know … she always comes across as just too imperviously cheerful and confident and, well … Sandra Bullock-y. This time, however, she really manages to bring on the heartbreak. The scene in which she informs her daughters that Dr. Christian Troy — I mean, their father — has died actually brought a few tears to my eyes. Seriously.

Anyhow, more than showcasing Bullock’s budding talent, Premonition is all about figuring out what we value most in life and fighting for it; recognizing each day for the miracle that it is and living it to the fullest, no matter how many tragedies and disappointing — nay, laughable — endings we have to sit through.

— Christian Nelson