JAMES MARSDEN & KARL URBAN IN THE LOFT

2015 rating: ***

With three different time sequences occurring within minutes of each other, this steely Hitchcockian mystery/thriller begins like most wind up – the crap's hit the fan and people are answering for it, but not really… No one’s exactly sure about the beautiful dead woman lying bloody on the bed inside THE LOFT, a penthouse spread where five guys cheat on their wives.

After the boys are frantically gathered at the scene of the crime, we finally settle into their main backstory, learning about the future culprits in the most involving parts: Without going into every character’s name there’s James Marsden, who, having literally fallen in love with a prostitute, is the friendliest while Matthias Schoenaerts is the wild card and leader Karl Urban's the architect who set up the bachelor pad. 

Poster Art

Sporadically cutting back and forth to the present time, where a police interrogation blunts the escalating tension, LOFT goes slightly overboard, backed by what sounds like a slower version of the PSYCHO theme played on a metronomic loop while the men deal with their suspicious wives, and more difficultly, each other. 

There's a token fat guy and a timid oddball, making this eclectic Rat Pack interesting enough so their vices and flaws matter more than the actual turnout that, while not to be spoiled here, is quite a relief – there are only so many twists and turns that five guys (or their audience) can take. COLLECTIVE RANK: Jedi, Rebel, Droid, Sith.