PREMONITION (2007 2 1/2 stars. Starring Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Nia Long, Kate Nelligan, Amber Valletta and Peter Stormare. Written by Bill Kelly. Directed by Mennan Yapo. Rated PG-13. Approx: 110 mins.

Under its quasi-supernatural veneer, Premonition is really a drama about closure and love.

Linda Hanson woke up Thursday morning, made breakfast for her two girls, then took them to school.

It was an ordinary day until that knock at the door. Linda is told her husband was killed the day before in a horrific accident. For the rest of the day, Linda just goes through the motions.

Waking up the next day, she shuffles downstairs to feed her kids, and sitting with them in the kitchen is her dearly departed, Jim (Nip/Tuck’s Julian McMahon).

Linda is confused and dumbfounded, believing the whole previous day was just a dream.

Ah, but when she awakes the next day. ... You get the picture.

Throughout Premonition, I could not help referencing two very divergent movies — The Sixth Sense and Groundhog Day.

True, Linda is not reliving the same day over and over, but she seems to be aware of events that have already happened or are going to happen.

Plus, she is seeing a dead person — or at least a soon-to-be dead person.

Director Mennan Yapo and writer Bill Kelly prey on audience expectations to propel the story. You think the story is headed one way, then the pair detour to another path.

The film is a tad padded and repetitious. But that repetition serves a purpose as Yapo shows the same events from different perspectives.

Premonition would have made for an interesting episode of One Step Beyond or The Twilight Zone. The premise is difficult to sustain for a feature-length film, yet Yapo makes a valiant effort.

Your interest only flags at intermittent moments.

One of the film’s weak links is the casting of Sandra Bullock as Linda. She plays her role too bottled up. For a woman who has supposedly lost her husband, she displays very little emotion.

McMahon just needs to look handsome, as no extraordinary demands are made on his talents.

Nia Long and Kate Nelligan are wasted in one-note roles as Linda’s best friend and mother.

Premonition’s ending may surprise you. Considering all that went before, it is ironically upbeat and life reaffirming.

It just takes a while to get there.

Bob Bloom is the film critic and DVD reviewer at the Journal & Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bbloom@journalandcourier.com or at bloomjc@yahoo.com. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal & Courier Web site: www.jconline.com
Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site: www.rottentomatoes.com.