Manhattan Nocturne

I'll admit, this one's a little baffling. "Manhattan Night" has all of your usual noir clichés and a generally melancholy vibe, but it is far from a nail-biter. There is a point, late in the game, where things actually do heat up, but it is a genuine challenge getting there. And this is a movie with more than one naked Yvonne Strahovski scene. That's criminal, man.

The movie's worth it for the cast (Jennifer Beals is always an asset) and there is a payoff in the end, but I can't say I'll be coming back around for this anytime soon.

5/10

Despite Adrien Brody pitching us his solid take on a New York columnist, his character is very much written in the Philip Marlowe private eye vein, the famous character by hard boiled crime detection novelist Raymond Chandler. Both characters share an obsessive nature, both get beaten up at least once and both do their best work at night in seedy places.

Yvonne Strahovski was born to a play a femme fatale and she is magnificent in this film. Shot entirely in New York, its NYC credentials extend to its quality supporting players like Jennifer Beals and Broadway star Campbell Scott. All four really gel. Campbell Scott is great at playing morally ambiguous or slightly crazy characters and he does both here to great effect. Of course the seedy back streets of NYC also feature. Describing the plot would give too much a way, but its one of those great neo noir films where everyone is guilty of something and everyone seems to teeter on the edge of betraying somebody else. Recommended for everyone, but neo noir fans in particular.

This very dark and erotic noir just contained too many incredulous and far-fetched plot elements for my liking. There seemed to be a better movie lurking within this one that never really came together and emerged.

Adrien Brody is fine as Porter Wren, the poker-faced investigative reporter and columnist for a daily New York City newspaper. When he's unable to resist the seductive advances of the gorgeous Caroline Crowley, portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski, Porter will find himself being led down a path of dark and demented secrets that will cost him dearly.

All in all, this movie, written and directed by Brian DeCubellis, based on a novel by Colin Harrison, had enough intrigue to keep me interested for the most part, but it seemed to fall apart as it progressed, with the filmmaker choosing shock value over plot elements that might have enhanced the story.

Producer-director Brian DeCubellis had done some TV movies and short films before this bigger directorial effort, the neo-noir Manhattan Nights, from 2016. He certainly has talent.

The film stars Adrien Brody as Porter Wren, a columnist for a New York newspaper. His wife (Jennifer Beals) is a surgeon, so they are able to have a darling house that is hidden down an alley in Manhattan - something like Patchin Place in the west village.

When his newspaper is taken over by a Rupert Murdock type (Steven Berkoff), Porter reluctantly attends a party for him. There he meets the beautiful Caroline (Yvonne Strahovski) whose husband, well-known director Simon Crowley (Campbell Scott) was found dead, buried under the rubble of an imploded building, surrounded by pieces of jade. The two wind up having an affair.

It seems Simon was a complete weirdo with an interesting hobby of recording "honest moments" on video cards. Caroline takes Porter to a safety deposit box with dozens of them. She invites him to watch them. But it turns out one of those honest moments is being used to blackmail someone, and the person being blackmailed wants it and begins to terrorize Porter to find it. This leads to Porter uncovering secrets about Simon, Caroline, and person being blackmailed, and learning something about himself.

The film is based on an novel called Manhattan Nocturne. I suppose the name was changed because the filmmakers thought not enough people would know what a nocturne is. That's sad. The story is good but unsavory, and, frankly, so are the characters. And it has the usual female nudity.

The acting is very good, particularly from Brody and Strahovski - she is gorgeous and reminds me of Sharon Stone when she was younger. Brody has had a so-so career since winning the Oscar. This was a good role for him. Linda Lavin has a cameo, and she's excellent.

Overall I can't say I was crazy about "Manhattan Night." It was well done but unpleasant.

Manhattan Nights has that feeling of classic film noir from the start. Substituting a modern day investigative reporter for the private eye is a fit. It fairly quickly turns into a disturbing darkness - as in somewhat uncomfortable to watch. Nothing really tells the viewer where this might go and it piles on quite a bit of weirdness thanks to the intersection of our reporter, Brody, with a femme fatale widow who knows how to use her looks for manipulation. It becomes a downward spiral for the reporter who, though you "might" want him to end up OK he's thoroughly maddening.

Gobs of mystery is piled on without a clear idea of what's going on. This is a good hook because like watching a blurry image you believe it will, eventually, come into focus. For this viewer it's the last quarter of the movie that feels too hard to believe making that final clarity hollow.

Maybe a couple that was super strange could pull down a wealthy tycoon and an egotistical writer? The problem, as I see it, is not nearly believable enough in the final analysis for the genre.

By the other reviews here I think there's a good number of folks that do not share my opinion. That's probably good since I'm not claiming to be right. It's just one person's take. Not having read the book I didn't know what to expect anyway. Actually I thought it had good acting and cinematography which held promise, I just couldn't buy into the story when it was finally revealed. The story (writing), therefore for me, ended up being the let down.

In the final analysis you may also feel manipulated as a viewer, or not?