What Wicker Park really is, is a story about people and the strange fashion in which they act after being bit by the love bug. To actually go into detail on the plot would be a tad difficult as this picture is quite complex (perhaps too complex for it's own good), and I couldn't really go into depth without giving certain things away. Just know that despite it's complexity, it's easy to understand as you watch it. The focal point of the film is Matthew (Josh Hartnett), a twenty something embarking on a career, who suddenly finds himself sidetracked by love. Before long, Matthew realizes he's caught in a strange web of deception orchestrated by someone who has more in common with him than he might care to admit.

Through the first forty minutes or so of Wicker Park, I started to feel like I was watching an extended ad for Obsession perfume. Stylistically speaking, much of the movie is staged and shot like one of those commercials (close-ups of brooding faces and such), but even more importantly, obsession plays an all important role in the movie. In fact, it got to a point when I felt like no one in the picture truly loved each other. They were more in love with the idea of being in love.

As the movie continued to unfold, the proceedings became somewhat silly, but surprisingly, the movie does have some smarts, particularly in the final act in which certain characters see how selfish they've been and begin to realize the error of their ways.

I've always had a hard time getting into Josh Hartnett. I don't hate the guy, but beyond his work in Black Hawk Down, he has yet to really impress me (although he does look pretty darn good in the upcoming Sin City). There's something rather dull about the way he carries himself, and of the large batch of twenty something actors currently making names for themselves, I'd call him more James Franco than Ryan Gosling. His Matthew never really moved me and I never felt myself rooting for him.

Diane Kruger is a beauty, but ultimately, we never really get to know her Lisa. This role feels underwritten, and this is strange given that it is her character that sort of sets the whole story into motion.

The strongest performance in Wicker Park comes from Rose Byrne as the lonely and vulnerable Alex. She brings desperation and a sense of yearning to the role of an actress with self confidence issues (so much so in fact, that she begins to take on a "Single White Female" kind of persona), and while there were certainly moments that could have been overplayed here, she does an admirable job (save for a scene in which she performs in a play midway through the movie--embarrassing).

In all honesty, I was bored stiff during the first half of this picture. Nothing seemed to be happening and I was irritated by the over the top direction by Paul McGuigan (who does a couple of annoying spiral camera moves that appear inspired by the overly flashy Man On Fire). But then, in the second half of the picture, Wicker Park becomes a little more observant, and I was pleased that the film doesn't turn into a routine mystery as the trailer suggests it might. Instead, Wicker Park builds on it's characters' little white lies, which ultimately become bigger and threaten the lives of these confused people.

The numerous coincidences and connections between the various characters may be hard for some to swallow, but as the film moves along, it becomes easier to digest. And I enjoyed the sequences in which director McGuigan doubles back to previous scenes from a different perspective (ala Jackie Brown). In some movies, such trickery is intrusive, but here, it works to the film's advantage.

The ending of the picture is bittersweet (and a tad too tidy) and I can't say that I completely bought into it, but I admired the honesty that these characters ultimately display. I call the climax bittersweet because two of the most genuine players in the film get the shaft. But then, that's life I suppose. Nice people often finish last.

Wicker Park is slow rather than patient, and to me, there's a big difference between the two. I'm all for a patient movie provided there's an element of intrigue or characters worth caring about. Nothing really happens here until we get into hour two, and while I suppose it could be argued that the first half is the all important set up, I found it rather lifeless and full of characters who were obsessing rather than actually falling in love. Thankfully, the second half of the picture brings a little more depth to the table.

There have been better movies about obsession and the pros and cons that come with a relationship (Stanley Kubrick's astonishing and underrated Eyes Wide Shut for one), but Wicker Park ended up being more fascinating than I initially though it would be.

Grade: C+