The Skeleton Key (2005)

Generic bit of stupornatural hokum about black magic and evil doings in a Louisiana bayou. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger is one of those guys who not only thinks he's a lot smarter than he is in actuality, he's also convinced that the audience is brain-damaged, which is the only explanation I can think of for his insistence on churning out over-obvious hackneyed genre efforts whose entire existence is predicated on twist endings that aren't as neat as Kruger believes. For all its bluster, I believe that the real reason this was made was so that Kate Hudson could show the world what good shape she's gotten her body into post-pregnancy. Not that I'm really complaining (she does look damn good in a wandering down empty hallways sporting a pair of French-cut panties), but that does seem like a flimsy reason to make a film. Gena Rowlands proves her professionalism knows no bounds; meanwhile, Peter Sarsgaard has to know that his burgeoning career is too young to start taking junk roles like this.

Grade: C