User Reviews

This is a Lifetime style thriller with slightly better photography and direction and it has Nicholas Cage. The story is about average Lifetime psycho standard - not better not worse. So it's not too bad a watch.

The title is a pun on the word. Or it could be called crazy egg donor. Gina Gershon plays an older doctor with fertility problems. She has a kid with an egg donor. Nicholas Cage plays her husband. She befriends another young mother whose daughter and hers become friends. Unknown to her she is actually the egg donor and goes around checking how her babies are being raised and if she isn't happy she gets dangerous. The story mostly checks out but it kind of is rather lame how she would invite such a pretty woman to stay in her guesthouse.

OK watch if you don't expect feature film standards.

Really just a terrible movie. And its been done SO many times in the past -- someone mentioned "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" but I just saw a black variation on this last year (can't recall the title, very boring) with a rich black couple who hire a surrogate. This is virtually the same film with a white cast!

I call these "evil BEE-yotch" films. There is always a nice woman, and then an evil woman who is jealous and wants the nice woman's "life" (which is always wealthy beyond belief). The husband is a passive dupe. Sometimes he cheats with the evil BEE-yotch, but not always -- not here, even though Nicky Whelan is far prettier and younger than Gina Gershon.

The only thing that could pass for a twist is that the Whelan BEE-yotch character is a lesbian. But that hardly raises an eyebrow today.

Aside from how derivative this is...they can't even get the details correct. There are numerous logic errors in the film. In the first scenes, Katie (Welan in a brunette wig) is seemingly an abused new mother, trying to runaway with her baby, when her husband comes home -- there is an altercation and she kills him with a convenient kitchen knife.

BUT...later in the film, we learn she is really their EGG DONOR, who managed to find their identities, track them down -- and is STEALING the baby -- and she has just murdered the babies real mother upstairs in the tub. Then she kills the husband. She has to have left DNA and fingerprints all over the darned house, but NOBODY -- police, FBI -- is searching for her! ha! she's fooled them! she has COLORED CONTACT LENSES! (BTW: nobody is searching for a kidnapped newborn baby? are you kidding me?)

At the end, an emergency room doctor tells Nick Cage that his wife (Gershon) -- ALSO stabbed by Whelan! in an identical incident! -- "didn't make it". He weeps. Everyone weeps. Katie (Whelan) is nowhere around, she's giving birth. Later, it turns out Gershon is not even INJURED from a huge knife plunged into her ABDOMEN (!!!). She's alive, to the shock of Katie (Whelan) who intended to kill her, and steal her husband and new baby. But...why on earth would the ER doctor have told Cage that his wife was dead? when she was FINE??? The only reason was to FOOL the audience! with totally false info!

We see Katie go into the hospital -- she is also injured slightly -- and they are just putting a bandage on her and it's a DAY after Gershon supposed DIED. Yet they are just putting a bandage on her wound? for the first time? then she's suddenly in labor, even though earlier we were told "she has three more weeks". She is put UNDER for a C-section (why???) -- totally knocked out -- which is NOT how c-sections are normally done. (They are done with spinal blocks and most women are completely awake & alert through the procedure.)

THEN we see her wake up, not even in the recovery room -- she's alone somewhere -- and they go down to the nursery to see the new baby. She is so FINE after a C-SECTION -- which is major surgery, cutting your abdominal muscles -- that she can get out of her wheelchair and run around. Note: most women can barely walk after a C-section and it takes 6 weeks for a complete recovery.

Did none of these people ever have a baby? yeesh. On top of that, we see Cage, Gershon, their new baby, their existing 5 year old daughter -- AND KATIE'S DAUGHTER!!!! -- all together in bed. Supposedly they get to KEEP Katie's daughter, even though the child was never theirs -- belonged to another (murdered) couple -- the child is entirely unrelated to either Cage OR Gershon (though a half sibling to their own daughter).

On what planet would they have gotten custody? That child had a family, even if her parents were murdered -- aunts, uncles, grandparents -- who would be desperately searching for her! Even if Cage's family wished to adopt her, it would be a lengthy process and no guarantee they would win custody. (Even if the murderous mother, Whelan, were in jail -- it would not sever her parental rights and the child would likely go into foster care.)

Mistakes like these are utterly thoughtless, showing NOBODY involved gave this the most minimal attention -- just slapped together lazily the tritest elements of this genre.

Gershon and Whelan do decent work, to be fair. Cage sleepwalks. He and poor Faye Dunaway look just awful -- hello folks? there is high def film now! you can't hide the wrinkles! -- and their presence is just sad.

Lastly: why oh why do these films always have to be set in the most obscenely lavish mega-mansions? This one is so over the top, it made me think of the "Versailles" palace from the film "The Queen of Versailles". It is just exhaustingly large and opulent. Even a pair of doctors would not likely have a house like this. Don't people in ordinary colonials and bungalows also have problems with infertility? The set is just a total distraction from the plot or characters, such as they are.

An empty shell of a movie. Avoid.

The film opens up with Katie (Nicky Whelan) with dark hair, stabbing a man who is attempted to choke her. Is she the victim or the crime? Later blonde Katie meets Brian (Nicolas Cage) and Angela (Gina Gershon) who are both successful doctors. The film gives you flashbacks and information so that you quickly know where the script is going. The mystery aspect for the audience is nil.

There was no decent character development for the couple and Nicolas Cage was one of them. I thought Rebecca De Mornay would have made a better grandmother than Faye Dunaway considering her previous role rocking the cradle, which I was thinking about 10 minutes into the film. Then there was the weird kitchen scene near the end and the murder which would seem to warrant a police investigation that we never saw.

Guide: Brief F-word, quick FF sex scene, nudity (Nicky Whelan, Corrie Danieley)

I suppose this might have been considered a good movie, maybe 20 years or so ago. It's not badly done, the acting is fine, it's just that the story line is so trite. Obsession, surrogate mothers, whose baby is whose? It's all been done before and so often.

Gina Gershon looks good, really good. She is like a fine wine, improving with age. Nick Cage's hair is so obviously dyed dark black, it looks quite silly on him. I guess Nick's leading man days are drawing to a close.

One could easily have considered this a good watch except for the fact that the scenario has been done to death, which tends to make it all too predictable.

There are worse ways to spend an hour and 45 minutes I guess, but, in the end, Inconceivable is a totally forgettable offering.

If you are into Unforgettable, Hand that Rocks the Cradle, When the Bow Breaks types of movies, then this one is a must for you! Good story- line and very good acting, especially by Gina Gershon who in fact in my opinion out-shined Cage by far. Pretty impressive performance by Nicky Whelan too for her convincing performance of her movie character. And it was a joy to see Faye Dunaway too still in the business. I highly recommend this movie.

In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Inconceivable," director Jonathan Baker discusses how he sought to combine the film thriller with a realistic portrayal of human pregnancy, including such delicate topics as in vitro, surrogate mothers, nannies, the trauma of miscarriage, the psychological impact on egg donors (apparently, sperm donors do not experience any "seller's remorse"), and a myriad of other issues related to pregnancies. The film is surprisingly successful in juggling the odd tandem of a suspenseful crime story while maintaining an equal focus on the pregnancy theme.

Early in the film, Brian (Nicholas Cage) and Angela (Gena Gershon) are portrayed as a desperate couple striving to breed a large family and have "a kid in every room" of their enormous house. The implication of the title "Inconceivable" is that Angela has been unable to produce the babies they (especially Brian) desperately want. The stage is set for a newcomer to the area, an apparently sweet and gentle young woman named Katie (Nicky Whelan) who simply adores children. She then turns into the nanny from hell.

In the bonus segment of the DVD, Nicholas Cage described the film as a combination of documentary and thriller genres. After the opening scene of what appears to be the gruesome murder of an abusive husband by his wife through stabbing, much of the early action of the film is like a tutorial in producing and rearing babies. But with the appearance of Katie, the film switches gears into the realm of horror.

There is good suspense built as Katie is promised $40,000 to carry to term the baby for Brian and Angela. But it slowly becomes apparent to Angela that Katie wants the child for herself. Much of the film is driven by the stupidity of Brian who fails to recognize the machinations of Katie, along with Angela's desperate search to learn the secrets of the mousy little nanny's past. As Nicholas Cage observes in the behind-the-scenes segment of the DVD, Angela is "gaslit" by Katie. In other words, the innocent-looking Katie is a schemer!

SPOILER FOLLOWS: In a crucial moment of the film, an emergency room doctor enters the hospital lobby and shakes his head at a distraught Brian, who is in the throes of anguish over the possible death of his wife. As conceived by the filmmakers, this moment was both disingenuous and dishonest with regard to the integrity of the film's narrative. In the shake of the head, the audience was led to believe that poor Angela had succumbed to her stab wound. This level of scripting is what one might expect from a television movie on the Lifetime channel, not a feature film produced by world-class motion picture artists.

While "Inconceivable" has been widely panned by the critics, the film nonetheless has provocative scenes and raises essential questions about the sensitive topic of procreation in the modern age. The camera work by Brandon Cox was exemplary with some stunning visual choices, especially with the uses of reflections on glass and mirrors.

For the viewer who is capable of wearing two hats (one for an entertaining thriller and one for a socially relevant topic) and is forgiving of one major blunder in screen writing, "Inconceivable" may result in an engaging film experience. Don't trust the critics! Sometimes what they write is inconceivable.

When you've seen the title of this 2017 film from Jonathan Baker you may already have seen the cleverest thing about it. "Inconceivable" resembles the 2014 "Left Behind" in being a Nick (Cage) and Nicky (Whelan) show. While "Inconceivable" is certainly a better thriller than "Left Behind" it sees Cage in the role of medico "Brian" rather coasting along, not really having too many lines, and in fact looking more than a little marginalised by 5 females, of which two are young daughters and 3 are adult women who are in various ways (!) their mothers and carers. (Obviously one of them is Angela, Brian's wife, played by Gina Gershon).

Given that the three female leads are played by the aforesaid Whelan (who steals the show) and Gershon, as well as Natalie Eva Marie; given that these three bond very closely from the outset (inter alia in a home kept by Brian and his wife that is far more palatial than Buckingham Palace!); given that the 3 range from the good-looking to the downright hot; and given that all three are seen in various states of undress, one would be forgiven for thinking that the makers are leading us in various more or less titillating directions. This is mistake number 1 to make if you're an audience member (male especially), but it's also mistake number 1 from the makers, since the sewer-like mind of the more-experienced filmgoer is likely to be developing rather lustier and more far-reaching plots than this film is ultimately willing and prepared to deliver!

How can it not disppoint, in those circumstances?

Indeed, when "Inconceivable" stops toying or messing about with us and homes in on what it's actually trying to put across, it transpires that this is mainly a warning against various forms of surrogate motherhood! This is a bit wrong (conceivably even cruel) of the makers, and the strategy at the same time alienates the piece from quite a chunk of its potential audience.

Since the film also has upsetting miscarriage issues to deal with, that's a number more who should NOT be watching this film - really!

So somehow this is all a bit exploitative, and all the more so as Whelan's portrayal is very sexy but also intended to convey creepy singlemindedness and in fact insane murderousness; and it seems for much of the movie that, having had a tough time before, she is now going to get absolutely everything she wants... and apparently with no police force or FBI out there at all to stop her!!!!!

That this is not so is due to a twist in the tale which comes as a bit of a surprise (good), but only because it's eccentrically disconnected with what has gone before (bad).

A further example of this kind of "throwaway" or "expendable" content relates to the strand in the film that brings in great actress Faye Dunaway. The years have moved on now to the point where Dunaway can be portrayed as an adult character's mother - in fact that of the Cage's Brian - but her role as prophet of doom suddenly goes into reverse towards the end of the film, and in fact needs to do so as all her warnings come so fully true that her contribution would otherwise look entirely surplus to requirements. Either way, that's a pity!

All in all, "Inconceivable" is an indecisive film that has a touch of atmosphere and a measure of watchability about it; but since so much of that is dependent on the Whelan character and its interactions with others, the doting portrayal of her extreme good looks gets rather heavily in the way of any message the film is trying to convey. And since that message is anyway a dubious (even a salaciously harmful and divisive) one, there's a big question mark over several aspects of this thriller. The default position of the old-fashioned, closed-minded, non-desperate, readily child-producing person out there is that surrogacy is kind of weird and wrong and bound to be complicated; and in fact this is the easiest position in the world to take up. Not requiring much effort at all from those in the luxury position of never having to contemplate it. But all other things are not equal, and some people make use of surrogacy as a chance for happiness, to fill a vast void in their lives. While it has to be admitted that things can potentially go wrong with that, why should a film put together such a scare story that will be mainly neutral for most viewers, but particularly hurtful for a small group?

This movie was pretty decent and enjoyable for most of it. interesting story. (1 viewing)

SPOILERS

the whole idea of this girl who donated eggs and messed up her uterus and can no longer have babies so she goes and steals the babies of her egg donations and uses the last of her egg donations to fertilize herself is pretty awesome. her psycho-y-ness was pretty awesome although could have been done better and more severe.

i liked it until the end, when it just got terrible. the direction they chose to go was lame, the acting got really bad, and the way the revealed stuff was terrible. first they show a scene implying the wife died and nick cage crying, makes no sense since she's not really dead. then they tell the girl that she died, which does not serve any purpose. then they show the wife is alive and cops come. terrible execution. first of all, the wife could have easily ended all of it if she told the lady at the donation place the description of the girl and that she had a baby named maddie, mystery solved, she's in jail. secondly, missed opportunity to make it seem like cage was debating if he should stay with the blonde girl before showing the wife is alive.

personally, i think a dark ending would have been way better. show some more scenes of marital problems, lack of sex, him being attracted to the girl, being convinced she's relapsed and unreliable, and even after finding out the wife was right and was killed by the girl, he still stays with the girl cause he's fallen for her and can have the mother of his children raise them

But you couldn't pay me enough to watch this film to the bitter end. And yeah, bitter is the word I would use as a descriptor. Everything, sets, cast, script has an edge of bitterness as in look at us so swanky rich, or look at us pretend we're enjoying these rug rats or look at straight out of central casting snarky mother in law .

Basically the plot you've seen done better in other films of this ilk of evil woman killer and nice unsuspecting eventually gobsmacked family who survive, at an immediate gallop, knife wounds and messy caesarians.

This one is dressed up in an unbelievable multipel million dollars mansion, pool, all funded by one working doctor and the other one a nervous wreck with a plastic immobile face.

Nicolas Cage has moved far beyond his sell by date, he sleepwalks his way through this with a mouth full of marbled dialogue of some kind never sounding like any kind of doctor I've ever encountered. Anywhere.

I frankl didn't care what happened to the whole sodden bitter mess.

1 out of 10.