The Ring

A Seattle reporter (Naomi Watts) investigates the deaths of four teenagers, all of whom died at the same moment exactly one week after seeing a certain nightmarish videotape; the investigation has a certain urgency because she’s also seen the tape herself. Writer Ehren Kruger and director Gore Verbinski have adapted a Japanese movie (which, in the interest full disclosure, I admit I haven’t seen) that was based, in turn, on a novel by Koji Suzuki II. And, in the process, Kruger and Verbinski have turned out a surprisingly stylish thriller. The suspense is restrained and subtle, with some genuinely delicious scares. It holds together almost to the end, when the gaping plot holes finally get out of hand, culminating in a cop-out non-ending that is just this side of ridiculous. The strong cast helps (Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, Jane Alexander).