Review: The Voices (2015)

Considering how much I love Ryan Reynolds, I can’t believe I had to wait for the DVD release before watching The Voices. It was one of those films that came out in only one cinema by me, for about a day, and then disappeared completely! I don’t need to be sold anything with Ryan Reynolds in, but a film featuring a crazy guy who talks to his cat and dog? I’m in, regardless!

Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) is a cheerful warehouse worker at a bathtub factory, who’s only recently moved to town. He has a severe mental issue which his psychiatrist tries to help him through, not helped by the fact that Jerry hates taking his medication. He also has a crush on work colleague Fiona (Gemma Arterton) which is complicated as she doesn’t really like him back, although Lisa (Anna Kendrick) does…

Oh, did I mention his cat, Mr Whiskers, and dog, Bosco (both voiced by Reynolds) talk to him?

The Voices is like no other film I’ve ever watched before. I don’t even know how to categorise it. It’s a Horror, but not to the extreme (I hate Horrors). It’s a Drama for sure, but it’s also funny to the point I cried at something Mr Whiskers said. I certainly can’t repeat it on here! Maybe that’s why the film got such mixed reviews, I think for some, the lack of a real genre can just be too off putting. 

We learn fairly early on that by watching this story from Jerry’s point of view, not everything is exactly as it seems. His old-fashioned, cosy-but-comfy apartment? Not quite so. It’s filled with rubbish and err, other things. It made me wonder what else we were only seeing from Jerry’s eyes. Especially his work place, with bright pink overalls and cheery music.

Anyone who has ever had a pet will find so much amusement from Jerry’s cat and dog. I hold my hands up in confession that I talk constantly to my two cats, Loki and Sherlock. I might not be able to hear them talk back to me, but a facial expression speaks a hundred words! Mr Whiskers is a typical cat, sarcastic and cruel, whereas Bosco likes to check Jerry is okay and find out if he wants to go for a walk.

The Gods must have heard my plea for a film starring both Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick, but perhaps I wasn’t specific enough. Rom com please! Regardless, I loved them both in this, they were perfectly cast.

A film that’s certainly not for everyone, but a film I loved and will never forget!