bobgreenwade

As murder mysteries go, "This Oxford Murders" is one of the most intriguing I've ever seen. The solution is so full of twists and surprises that I could never have seen it coming. This aspect of the movie is quite simply brilliant.

Unfortunately nearly everything else in this movie tanks. The dialogue is frequently stilted, and stalls out unless Elijah Wood and John Hurt are the only ones in the scene (and even then it falls down at times). The only other performer who rises above this awful script is Jim Carter as Inspector Peterson, the man in charge of the investigation. Even Burn Gorman, who shone in TV's "Torchwood," isn't up to this.

There's also bits of nudity, a couple of sex scenes, and other bits that seem designed to titillate more than enrapture. They're completely unnecessary to the story, serving only to distract and confuse the viewer. Several actions of the characters, some of them vital to the story and others just thrown in for no good reason, are incomprehensible and left unexplained.

The train wreck becomes complete when we meet Dr. Seldom's friend, who has not only a degenerative bone disease but also a serious mental illness that led him to attempt a self-lobotomy with a nail gun. Presently I felt like following suit. This man has a part to play in the story, but it's not big enough to warrant such an extreme backstory.

The only reasons I watched until the end were because of the compelling mystery, and the fact that I'd paid $3 to rent it. The movie, however, is barely worth $3 even as an intellectual property, let alone worth that much to rent.

When I saw that this movie first, was inspired by a computer "role-playing" game, and, second, included Burt Reynolds as a supporting actor, I went in with low expectations. Those expectations were unfounded, and those two factors were both deceptive: the plot and characters were surprisingly well-crafted, and Reynolds put in what may be the performance of his career. (That may not be saying much, I'll admit, but it's something.) The acting all around is quite good, particularly at spots (most of them Ray Liotta's) where the action lent itself to over-the-top bravura but the performers opted for a more subtle approach. Some of the plot twists you can see a mile away, and others come out of nowhere, so while you know things are going to work out in the end the viewer can't be quite sure how it's going to get there. The only part I didn't care for, and that not by much, was seeing, without comment or explanation, two black men in charge of the army in what is clearly a society based on medieval Europe -- Brian J. White and Ron Selmour are both fantastic and deserving actors, but as out of place logistically speaking as the equally distracting lin-kuei (Chinese ninjas) who also serve in the King's army. Despite dead-on performances from both Reynolds and Leelee Sobieski, the film isn't going to win any Oscars, except maybe for the completely natural-looking visual effects or the dead-on costuming (lin-kuei notwithstanding), but it's definitely worth going to see.