ICYMI - How can something with such a simple story be so engaging?

How can something with such a simple story be so engaging?

That's a question I asked myself at least 20 times last week. One thing you see a lot when you are reading reviews of books, movies and tv shows are those people that will rate the item down for these reasons.

"I knew everything before it happened."

"This was so predictable"

While I think that a lot of times, those reasons are very valid, I don't always agree. For me, its all about the journey. I like to see how the characters act and react to the things that I may have seen a mile away. How do those things effect the plot, what route did the author or director take to get there. And, lets face it, there are so many stories out there these days that you will probably always predict a little about anything you watch or read.

But, lets get back to Bad Genius. This movie is a Thai film, so it isn't English language. I had to read. The story is a simple one, and everything that happens I knew it well before hand. Its a thriller but not a "solve a murder" type thriller. No one's life is in danger. At its core, it is a heist movie...I'll tell you the gist without giving too much away.

The story centers around a group of high school students in Thailand. One girl is very smart, she gets accepted to a prestigious school that her family cant afford. She ends up there, for free, because she is an excellent student. The friends she makes aren't the brightest, as far as grades. They are all from rich families... which is why they are at the school. They make a deal to pay her to help them cheat so that they can get good grades. Which leads them to coming up with a larger plan to cheat on a college placement test. A test that would help them get into a school in the US.

This is a simple story... Rich kids pay the poor smart kid to help them cheat on a test. Even the way they cheat, while clever, isn't too special. Nothing happened that I didn't see coming but I was completely captivated by this movie. I'll tell you how captivated... I don't have anything against watching subtitled movies but I really have to be in a mood... I wasn't that night... AND I started watching it at 1 a.m. after watching UFC. Figured Id watch it for about 20 minutes then fall asleep... but nope, I was all in. I watched till the end and enjoyed every moment.

How do you feel about this? Do you feel like a movie, book or tv show has to completely blindside you with every choice to enjoy it?

Also, do you have any movies that you have watched where you completely saw everything coming but still enjoyed it?

BOOK PROMO'S and DEALS

Thriller - Mystery - Suspense

After her partner at FBI, who was her dear friend and lover, was brutally murdered and the case went unsolved, she wanted to get away from it all. Until she got a phone call from an unknown number saying they had evidence about her partner's murder. Which makes her return to her hometown Wolverine Harbor. But, the comforting feeling of the familiarity and warmth of her hometown is short-lived when another woman goes missing, her body to be found in the woods a day later. Were the two murders