La signora in grigio

An American drama; A story about a Boston homicide detective who searches for clues about a serial killer that murdered both his sister and his partner which leads him to Nantucket, an island where he uncovers secrets about his family's past. The main problem with the film is it doesn't spend enough time on character development before launching into overwrought plotting. The pacing fails because of a sketchy main character. Although it is absorbing as a whodunnit, with such crude methods of viciousness and so many plot turns it felt forced and hard to engage with. It boasts a lovely setting and all the technical elements are tick-boxed for a modern drama.

There are some movies that after you finish watching, you ask yourself why? Why this movie was made? The movie was a car wreck, bad writing, acting direction, even the island looked fake, The Grey lady looked like Staten Island rather than herself! Do yourself a favor watch anything else but this!

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 premise interested me. I really enjoy a good murder mystery. This was just muddled. The acting/script really weren't that great and just made it all incredibly cheesy.

Spent half of the time wondering what was happening and hoping for a pay off that was at least worth it. It wasn't.

Don't waste your time with this rubbish. How do films like this ever get made...just awful!