Premonition is
proof positive that imaginatively fractured storytelling like Memento doesn’t actually always work. Sandra
Bullock stars as mother and housewife Linda Hanson in this slapdash and
nonsensical dramatic thriller, a jumbled mix of time-bending suspense elements
and tones.

Premonition has a
loose narrative of of personal-stakes investigation, but is frugal in design
and lacking in detail and rationality. Visual touchstones are scattered
haphazardly throughout (a dead crow here, a bottle of wine there), but they
hold neither any concrete meaning nor any surreal, anxiety-provoking allure; they’re just coded markers, wanly tossed into the mix to indicate where we are
on a timeline continuum. Furthermore, there are no sustained, legitimate
attempts to truly dissect Linda’s presentiments, or assign her plight any
importance. A few thinly sketched supporting characters wander in and out of
the proceedings, but do little to realistically impact it. As if these
stultifying inanities weren’t enough, Premonition also (and most
damningly) just comes off as boring, just plain and simple.

Available in either full-screen or widescreen, and housed in a regular Amray case in turn stored in a cardboard
slipcover, Premonition’s tricked-out DVD
release comes loaded with enough bonus materials to make folks perhaps think it’s
a worthwhile title. Supplemental extras include a collection of deleted scenes,
including an alternate ending with optional director’s commentary, a look at
the making of the movie with interviews from the cast and crew, a look at the
major events of the movie put in “normal” order and narrated by freshman director
Mennan Yapo, a short documentary about people who in real life people have had
premonitions about their own futures, and a short blooper reel, which shows
that at least some laughs were squeezed out of this lemon. There’s also an
audio commentary track with Yapo and Bullock. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. F (Movie) B+ (Disc)