Case 39

Left sitting on the shelf for more than two years, Case 39 stars Renée Zellweger as Emily, a social worker who takes in an apparently abused girl named Lily (Jodelle Ferland) who is haunted by something rather sinister. The movie isn’t bad and offers some decent scares; why it sat on the shelf for as long as it did is a mystery, as it’s better than a lot of the dreck that Hollywood releases. The acting is decent; Zellweger is flanked by the always-dependable Bradley Cooper and Ian McShane in supporting roles. However, an egregiously misleading ad campaign and a few bits of badly written dialogue hurt the movie. There is one line Cooper has regarding restraining orders that is quite possibly the most unintentionally hilarious thing I’ve ever heard in a movie. In summation: good acting and bad one-liners make this worthy of at least a matinee.