By Faith McQuinn

I personally have nothing against Sandra Bullock. I tend to like her in the occasional popcorn romantic comedy, and she did wonderful work in CRASH. But I — if I may be so bold — had a bit of a premonition about PREMONITION. The first preview I saw made me realize this would definitely be a video movie, and it is … in so many ways.

Bullock plays Linda Hanson, a housewife who finds out her husband, Jim (Julian McMahon), has died in a car crash. She spends the day just kind of going through the motions. Then, when the next day arrives, her husband is alive and well, eating breakfast and watching TV. Linda writes it all off as a bad dream, until the next day when Jim is dead again.

The secret behind Linda’s messed-up time line is exactly what propels the story. You’re just waiting to find out why this is happening to her. Little clues begin revealing themselves — things Linda cannot explain, and you’re just itching to know the answers. Then, the answers begin to reveal themselves, and you just stop caring.

The most exciting aspect of a thriller is the anticipation of the Big Reveal. The second most exciting aspect is having small clues uncovered to make the Big Reveal all the more tantalizing. PREMONITION fails miserably at making the small clues at all interesting.

At one point, Linda finds her oldest daughter’s face covered in scratches. She is shocked and scared, but everyone around her seems to know what happened. As a viewer, you’re curious to know too, thinking this might be one of those little clues that will help you figure out the ending. Sorry to ruin the surprise; it’s not. I can’t actually think of one pointed event or deliberate shot in the film that paid off well in the end.

And, that ending! The biggest problem with PREMONITION is that around 20 minutes before the end, it stops being a supernatural thriller. It’s as if screenwriter Bill Kelly decided he was done with that genre and wanted to move on to sentimental drama or something. In addition to the disappointing turn at the end, the entire film collapses under close scrutiny, as there are plot holes you could go spelunking in.

I guess after all this movie-bashing, I should talk about the good points of PREMONITION. If you rent it, make sure you watch the gag reel. Yes, I know, a gag reel seems achingly out of place for this type of movie, but let me tell you, it was by far the most entertaining thing on the DVD. The final bit with Sandra Bullock running down the street had me laughing harder than I’d like to admit.

All in all, PREMONITION was an OK movie for the first hour or so. Then I realized nothing was really going to happen. The trailers made it out to be some big thriller when actually it just seems like an extended hour-long drama that belongs on the SCI FI Channel.