Secret in Their Eyes

When I saw the cast list, which includes Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and the brilliant Chiwetel Ejiofor I thought I was in for ninety minutes of sheer quality, you can forgive me for thinking that, when you take into account the number of awards shared by the stars, the budget, and the pedigree of the original movie. Unfortunately, Hollywood strikes again, the curse of the poor remake, it was virtually impossible to mess this up, but mess up they did. The acting was fine, strong production values, a clever story, in theory. However, the execution is so bad, the film lacks any degree of suspense, it lacks any degree of subtlety needed to tell such a story, and the characters are such that I didn't care less what happened to any of them, as I have no connection with anybody. The film should have been gripping, exciting, at least moved you to empathise with the characters, but no, it was utterly bland, such a waste of so much talent. I'm stunned by some of the positive reviews I've read, what are they seeing that I couldn't, all I did was yawn, and I'm easy to please in terms of thrillers.

Duller then dishwater. 5/10

Having read all the negative and Luke warm reviews, it was with some trepidation that I we went to see this film, now I haven't seen the Argentine original, but I did enjoy this one! Kept my interest the whole time, all the leads were strong and believable, never a big Julia Roberts fan, she was outstanding in this, I certainly don't agree with the reviewers that said Nicole Kidman was miscast, I thought she was excellent, you don't get to be an A grade Academy Award winner by being a bad actress! Perhaps it's not as good as the original are they ever? But it stands on it's own, and would be in my top ten for this year ,not that it has a lot to beat? Far as I could tell, everyone in the theater enjoyed it! Hey! It's a movie, not brain surgery!

A murder case is reopened after 13 years by an obsessive investigator. No character development and a lack of chemistry between the two leads leaves it feeling two dimensional. The subtlety that the films title suggests is no where to be found. Add to that, a narrative that repeatedly chops and changes between the present (2015) and 2002 leaves you constantly checking for grey hair on Chiwetel Ejiofor's head. It leaves a clumsy mess of a movie. The one saving grace perhaps is the performance from Julia Roberts. Worth a watch, but if you want a masterpiece then watch the original version.

From just after the opening this effort began to look like Television with pretensions. Maybe it's time Hollywood and audiences got over the misguided following of styles from the likes of Tarantino and Scorsese - both who seem to have joined other overrated movie makers of the era...Now Billy Ray joins their club with this over-everything mess of a movie. More ridiculous flash-back, flash-forward techniques to leave the viewer simply wanting to give up. It even looks like the movie makers were confused and perhaps forgot to change some of the wardrobe between some time-skip scenes. Why further complicate an already overly complex screenplay??

Performers try to inject power into the unbelievable situations but don't often win (looked like they were as confused as the audience). Kidman was out of her element as the D.A. and has some of the movies most ridiculous dialogue and scenes. Julia Roberts wins the day with a powerfully realized performance. An interesting music score and cinematography also look like they were looking for a better script to bring to life. What a disappointment this is. Looks like a career going backwards.

Hollywood loves to remake foreign language films and it's at it again with an Argentinian film that was made only six years ago. The Secret in Their Eyes received the Best Foreign Language Oscar but there's no chance for this production to be even nominated in any Oscar categories. I haven't seen the original so I can't compare the two movies but knowing Hollywood's track record with remakes, the Argentinian version would have been a superior production.

In 2002, a team of FBI investigators including Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess (Julia Roberts) along with a newly arrived district attorney, Claire (Nicole Kidman), are based in Los Angeles to prevent terrorists from inflicting more damage to the American way of life after 9/11 the previous year. The agency receives a call about an incident that has taken place in the vicinity of a mosque. Thinking this is terror-related they make the grim discovery of a murdered young lady who just so happens to be Jess' daughter, Carolyn (Zoe Graham). The agents make an arrest but the man is released as he is a snitch for the FBI, providing names of terrorists to the organization. For 13 years, Ray logs onto the criminal database and eventually finds the man who might have been responsible for Carolyn's death. Will justice be served after 13 years?

The main problem with the story is the ridiculous number of flashbacks throughout the whole film. There are even flashbacks within flashbacks. The flow of the narrative is constantly interrupted and there are occasions where you have to think when the story is being set. As for the story itself, it is rather lacking in thrills which takes away the dramatic impact of the whole situation. This is rarely edge of your seat material which is a shame as the story should lend itself to a tense and dramatic thriller. 

What the story does well is provide character interactions and depict why people act and behave the way they do. If you are after a character study then you will be happier with the development of the story. For characterizations to excel you need actors who you can empathize with. Ejiofor is the main star and he performs with distinction while Roberts doesn't have as many scenes but she is excellent in conveying her emotions. Kidman is overshadowed by her counterparts but still manages to bring her character to life. Dean Norris as FBI agent Bumpy Willis brings some humor to his role, ensuring that the tone of the story isn't dour for the whole film. Alfred Molina has several scene- stealing scenes as District Attorney Martin Morales.

A movie with two Oscar winning actresses and an Oscar nominated actor should have been better than this. Here is a definite case of the trailer being more exciting than the film itself. The final product only provides a fraction of what the intriguing premise had to offer.  http://mlaimlai2.wix.com/magical-movie-review