Grey Lady

I was hoping for a good story and mystery but this didn't even come close.

You know that feeling you get when you watch someone doing something foolish? That embarrassed-for-them feeling. Well. This movie does that. No character development of any depth. It was shot in one of the most beautiful locations in the world, yet, no location development. This movie had the production value of a made-for-TV movie.

It seems that poor movies are propped up initially by gushing reviews from those associated with the movie and their friends, family and associates. So from someone who has not reviewed a movie before on IMDb and who is not linked to the movie in any way I need to say something.

Nantucket is the stand out character in this movie and it is wet, grey, dull and lifeless - everyone and everything else fails to live up to this standard including the direction, writing, script and acting.

A Boston Detective Doyle (Eric Dane) and his partner-wife Maggie (Rebecca Gayheart) respond to a break-in at an art gallery and Doyle figures out this is an ambush. Both are subdued and Maggie is shot and killed with Doyle's gun and Doyle is shot with Maggie's gun. Before dying Maggie whispers clues to Doyle: Crown and Rose. Doyle is suspended and he goes to Nantucket to a restaurant called the Crown and Rose. Doyle grew up in Nantucket and hopes that some family members there will help him discover the reason for the killing. At this point he is not aware that he is the real target.

This is very slow going and much information the audience needs is hard to come by. I gave up some things above that would take forever before the Director lets them known. You are welcome. But for you to enjoy this story you needed to know some things. Enter Eli Morrison (Carolyn Stotesbery) and Perry Morrison (Chris Meyer) two psychopaths and we are not sure what their role is in here. There are many things we are not privy to and we find ourselves learning about characters who just decide to show up. What do they know? Doyle needs to find out. The acting all around is good even though much isn't revealed by this cast. Ha!

The real mystery in here is why the audience is kept from good information and they (we) sometimes become so confused we almost shut this down. Yes, yes, all information will be revealed at the end. Yeaaaaah! This would have been a better cat and mouse mystery if Doyle knew or suspected who the killers were, but not that he would know he was the ultimate target. Well, that is until the very end. There is a twist that even God didn't see coming. Honest.

Notables: Natalie Zea as Melissa, the love interest for Doyle and she has looks that closely resemble Maggie, his dead wife; Amy Madigan as Lola and Doyle's aunt and is the real key to everything; Adrian Lester as Detective Johnson who helps Doyle and also is there to keep an eye on him; and John Shea as police Chief Maguire who also wrote this somewhat confusing story.

FYI: Eric Dane was a regular on TV show Grey's Anatomy and he is currently in The Last Ship.

Who is the Grey Lady? Why Nantucket itself, which we see in fogs, dreary, and lifeless ways, much like this story. (5/10)

Violence; Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, but not much.

The Grey Lady sets out to confuse and mystify, and achieves that spectacularly. Am I sorry I watched it? NO. If one does not occasionally view, or suffer through poorly written movies, one will not feel the extreme pleasure of a 9 or 10. Having watched with some intent, mainly because I was trying to understand the background to the storyline, unsuccessfully I might add, it served its purpose of being something to watch.

Set in Nantucket one begins to wonder why that location. Perhaps the isolation and smaller population fits the bill for the unfolding of an erratic and at times nonsensical set of events that would be ridiculous in a city setting.

Full of cliches, sudden attraction between characters, irrational art purchases, and an anti out of town cop police chief, who retracts his anti feelings in hindsight. A fairly wooden acting performance by many, or most, cast members.

I came, I saw, I watched. I now have a lowish bar against which I can judge other movies.