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The Pale Blue Eye
Directed by
Scott Cooper
Produced by Christian Bale, John Lesher, Scott Cooper, and Tyler Thompson
Written for the screen by Scott Cooper Based on the novel by Louis Bayard
Produced by Christian Bale, John Lesher, Scott Cooper, and Tyler Thompson
Written for the screen by Scott Cooper Based on the novel by Louis Bayard
With:
Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Fred Hechinger, Joey Brooks, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lucy Boynton, Gillian Anderson, Steven Maier, Brennan Keel Cook, Orlagh Cassidy, Matt Helm, Hadley Robinson, and Robert Duvall
Cinematography:
Masanobu Takayanagi
Editing: Dylan Tichenor
Music: Howard Shore
Editing: Dylan Tichenor
Music: Howard Shore
Runtime:
128 min
Release Date: 23 December 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color: Color
Release Date: 23 December 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color: Color
Christian Bale stars as a retired detective asked by the military to investigate the murder and mutilation of a cadet at the West Point Military Academy in 1830. As part of his investigation, he enlists the help of another cadet, Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling looking quite convincing as the young writer). Director and screenwriter Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace, Black Mass) crafts an atmospheric adaptation of Louis Bayard's 2003 novel, and he populates it with a first-rate cast. However, without these A-listers in the supporting roles, we'd never be able to follow the lugubrious story in which information is conveyed with long exchanges of dialogue that fail to sink in. Cooper's glacial pacing prevents the mystery from taking hold. We don't really care about the victims, so it's hard to care about who dun it. Everything builds to a goofy attempt at a gothic climax followed by a dubious and far too drawn-out conclusion.
Twitter Capsule:
Twitter Capsule:
Cooper's atmospheric, well-cast adaptation of Bayard's novel about a set of murders at West Point in 1830 involving Edgar Allan Poe is too oblique and sluggishly paced for the mystery to take hold.