The Pale Blue Eye

1830 and Detective Landor (Christian Bale) is summoned to the West Point academy to investigate the apparent suicide by hanging of a cadet, whose body was then subsequently mutilated. Unable to get much information from the closed shop academy, he enlists the help of a solitary cadet, one Edgar Allan Poe. Together they start to realise that this did not start with a suicide.

Enjoyable who and why dunnit mystery thriller set against the beautiful scenery and equally beautifully filmed backdrop of snow covered New York. Bale is convincing as the tough, canny detective haunted by the death of his wife and the disappearance of his daughter. Harry Melling as a truly eccentric Poe is also on good form delivering a performance just this side of over the top. Carrying this through with equal weight is the glorious supporting cast including Timothy Small as the camp commander, Simon McBurney cast against type as the tough Captain who isn't that keen on Landor being there, the great Toby Jones as the camp doctor, Robert Duvall as an eccentric expert that Bale consults and Gillian Anderson who can do no wrong in anything she does. A good, atmospheric and linear thriller then which should keep you guessing, although the coincidences in play as the story comes to a nonetheless satisfying conclusion are a bit of a stretch. Definitely worth catching.

While many period pieces drag on and seem to be rather uneventful imo this product from Scott Cooper certainly delivers on holding my full attention throughout with ominous settings and suspenseful scenery. Bale is obviously a huge part of that as well with his dedicated ambition as usual for his roles. The story doesn't drag and violence is on display, something that I've seen held back on in most thriller period pieces maybe aside from Sleepy Hollow (1998). Dare I say the execution of the set pieces and costumes were much more convincing as well and gave the film more authenticity. Overall I was surprised with this film and its effectiveness.

Movie is an okay gothic mystery... but Christian Bale is the god of acting. And Harry Melling does a fantastic job too! Not to mention Gillian Anderson... so 10/10 for the casting and actors. It's worth watching this movie just because of them.

Script wise not a remarkable story in any ways, but it's solidly executed and the very belivable performance of the actors is what makes or breaks it in this case... and they all quite delightfully deliver! So yes, if you like spooky mysteries but mostly want to get blown away by some serious acting performances -this is the movie for you. Honestly the plot is kinda mediocre, but the acting so unproportionally stellar that i cannot in good conscience not recommend to watch this!

Reminds me of Tim Burton's The legend of Sleepy Hallow. Its not as dark and scary as Burton's movie , but it is somehow more mature and realistic science wise. Great cinematic appeal , what makes it beautiful is this chilly, gothic lonely and at times frozen in time scenery which is breathtaking in this movie. No fake Green studious or design sets and obvious film stages, its all real nature with rich scenes. Its a A dark mystery that cuts deep, and leaves you empty once you understand the painful ending. Bale did good , getting old with his skills but he delivers. All in all this movie is worth two hours of your time.

This movie kept me hooked from the very beginning to the last scene. The atmosphere is mind-blowing, especially when watched during a winter night. The costumes felt very authentic and the cast did amazing job, especially Christian Bale as a detective and Harry Melling (who has become one of my favorite actors) as Edgar Allan Poe.

Another thing I must mention is the screenplay. The writers do not exaggerate the info-dumping and let the on-screen actions tell the story instead, which felt very natural. Some may complain about the runtime or the movie being boring. But although the opening is slow, it was necessary to build up the characters and establish a brilliantly twisted climax.

To me, "The Pale Blue Eye" seemed better than most other films of this genre that are being made by Hollywood these days.

Overall, I spent an enjoyable 2 hours and would recommend to anyone who is looking for a decent murder-mystery movie.