[yasr_overall_rating]
A mother looks to escape her abusive past by moving to a new town where she befriends another mother, who grows suspicious of her.
“Inconceivable” might be viewed by some a knock-off of the far-superior “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” and in many respects, they would be right. And while it was Rebecca De Mornay and Annabella Sciorra who basically carried that movie through to the end, the same can be said for this film’s two lead actors, Gina Gershon and Nicky Whelan, two fiercely tenacious women who will both fight for what they want, even if one wants the other’s family and life.
After Katie (Nicky Whelan) and her infant daughter Maddie escape a seemingly abusive relationship, they settle down in a small Ohio town. Eventually, Katie befriends Angela (Gina Gershon) and her husband Brian (Nicolas Cage) and their young daughter and they become good friends. With work a little scarce in town for Katie, Angela and Brian offer her the opportunity to move into their guest house where she can help look after their young daughter by being their nanny. When Angela reveals to Katie that she had three miscarriages and that she is unexpectedly pregnant again, the two women try to find happiness in the good news but things quickly go south when she loses the baby. Later, when it comes up in conversation that they are willing to try surrogacy, without hesitation, Katie immediately volunteers. After all, why try to find a total stranger when a family friend will do it?
Angela and Brian are elated and for a while, everything runs smoothly but over time, Katie increasingly changes, and only Angela seems to notice. Out in public, Angela overhears a conversation between Katie and another mother and when she inadvertently refers to Katie and Angela’s daughters as twins, Katie goes along with it, agreeing that they are indeed, her babies. Things finally come to a head when Angela discovers a dark secret from Katie’s past that could put her and her family’s lives in danger but when Brian is quick to disbelieve her, she finds herself fighting a losing battle. As the time draws nearer for Katie to give birth, Angela must dig a little deeper, to finally unearth the evidence she so desperately needs.
“Inconceivable” is overly-clichéd in everything it sets out to achieve. Loving family? Check! Psycho chick who initially pretends to be awesome but eventually loses her marbles? Check! A friend of the family who discovers Katie’s true intentions and is then met with a timely demise? Check! By all means, this film should have a much lower rating but as I stated earlier, the performances of both Ms. Gershon and Ms. Whelan, are more than enough to hold you over until the closing credits. There is nothing original about this story whatsoever but I still found myself waiting to see what was going to happen next, even though I was 99% sure what was going to transpire and lo and behold, it was exactly what I expected.
Unfortunately, Nicolas Cage and Faye Dunaway don’t fare as well. I like Mr. Cage, he is always enjoyable, even when his performances are banal and uninspired but in this instance, he is only in the movie for sheer star power. He appears from time to time, reinforces the fact that he is the man of the house and Angela’s husband, and then he is gone. Ms. Dunaway pretty much follows the same route. She retired for a number of years and returned in last year’s horrendous “The Bye Bye Man” and coupled along with this feature, she might want to rethink her strategy because if her desire is just to work, then she will have no trouble finding it. But if she wants to make a return to an Academy Award-Winning career, that had her starring alongside some of Hollywood’s leading men, and working with some of the best directors in the business, she may want to find another agent.
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