Kevin Costner-The New Daughter

I was wandering around the video store over the weekend in search for a decent movie when I noticed something I haven't seen around in a while- a movie starring Kevin Costner. Maybe this movie was released during a time that I was very busy because I never even saw trailers for it. I've always enjoyed watching Costner on the big screen and I might have even ventured out to the movies to catch this one if I knew of its existence. I was guessing that The New Daughter might not be the best Costner film but I was willing to give it a shot.

The fact that this looked like a horror/mystery and actually included known actors was enough to make me curious. I've always associated Kevin Costner with dramas rather than horror so I was interested to see him take a stab at a fairly new genre. The film also included the new young Spanish star Ivanna Banquero (Pan's Labyrinth). The acting was as good as expected including the work of Gattlin Griffith (Changeling) who is only between the ages of eight and ten.

John James (Costner) embarks on a new beginning with his children starting with the purchase of a new home in a rural area. His wife abandoned the family and decided to start her life over again on her own, cutting all ties. This part of the story seemed a little far-fetched simply because there wasn't a clear or believable explanation for her leaving. I did get up a few times during the movie so I might have missed something, but somehow I doubt it.

Strange things begin to happen to Costner's daughter Louisa (Banquero) when she discovers her favorite place to hang out not far from their own back yard. She becomes fascinated by the emotional escape of relaxing high upon a mound, away from people and from her current situation. The mound turns out to be more significant than a large pile of dirt and rubble. Louisa begins to change into a new and very dangerous young woman.

The horror aspect of the film didn't show its face until the middle of the movie allowing enough time to build the characters and the story before the plot thickened. The plot of this movie is not new to the horror genre but it was more interesting than expected simply because we were concerned about the characters involved. More often than not, a film like this wouldn't include such reputable actors. If that were the case, this could have just been your typical, been there-seen that-type of film.

I can state with confidence that the end of the film is a slight flop and does not offer us half of the grand finale we would expect. It almost seemed like the director already knew the movie would be good and decided to hurry the end so they could release it. My question is, why put such care into the beginning and middle of a film if your going to half-a** the end of the movie? I apologize for the language but at least it's better than what I said out loud in my living room at the end of the movie.

Watch this movie if you can enjoy a film for the majority of its content and don't get as hung up on endings as I do. It's worth the ride otherwise. If you are just an all around Kevin Costner fan, check out the following great movies. Don't forget to order Dish Network's America's Everything Package for the best in premium entertainment. Enjoy!

A Perfect World (My favorite)
The Bodyguard
JFK
Dragonfly
The Company Men

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