A Talent For Murder | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPOSITIVES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As easy and as uninspiring as it would’ve been to craft another by-the-numbers biopic for the heralded American author, the creative deviation that screenwriter Joanna Murray-Smith conjures here is nothing short of brilliant, as she essentially implements Highsmith in one of her very own novels, during the dreaded depths of the final year in her withering life, and while the film is admittedly far from perfect, it’s made devilishly delightful in the mind games dynamic between Patricia and Edward, unraveling one of the very best opening acts that I’ve experienced all year. Part of the appeal is certainly in the poker faced ambiguity between these characters that doesn’t so much break the ice of meticulously enacted tension between them, but rather shatters it with a weaponizing of passive aggressive psychology so effortlessly enticing that it carves out a battle-tested chemistry between Mirren and Ehrenreich that is infectiously irresistible, however just as much praise is deserved from Joanna articulating these conversations with the kind of campy pulpy dialogue that feels directly lifted from one of Highsmith’s novels, with an expressively generous freedom from an R-rating that allows Highsmith to get as vulgarly relentless as possible, in order to dissect Edward’s vulnerability in ways so remarkably accurate that she feels supernatural. This endearing banter between them does wonders for the endearment of the audience, as they learn as much about these characters without the dialogue feeling overly expositional, but beyond that elevates the engrossing essence of the film with a firm balance between thrills and humor, that enriches authenticity from the pages of a murder mystery, without one sacrificing the integrity or dominance over the other, and instead harvesting this unpredictability factor between these duo of protagonists that in a lot of ways feels like a one-sided battle of wills, at least until Edward eventually transforms into Ripley before our very eyes, where he becomes more confidently assertive and resilient against the tactics of an unwelcoming host. This aspect would normally feel like a spoiler to the film’s integrity, however Edward’s own implementation to the character comes early on in the film, once the two of them start to work together towards crafting a sixth Ripley novel that centers around his own arrival to Switzerland, but the real mystery eventually stems from Edward’s own incapability to distinguish the fantasy from the reality, leaving plenty about the aforementioned ambiguity of the character’s backstory to resonate speculation and distrust from a not always reliable narrator, all the while allowing the production to lose itself so seamlessly to an intoxicating presentation so colorfully rich and artistically vibrant that it adds style to so much shifting substance between characters. While every measurable element goes a long way towards crafting the atmospheric uneasiness that resides restlessly during their three day occupancy with one another, the most meaningfully vital to the overall integrity of the finished product pertains to the richly glorious cinematography from Robbie Ryan, who captures the sleek elegance of European decor and breathtaking scenery of Switzerland and Rome with naturalized lighting practices, as well as the sinister sting of Anton Corbijn’s dashing direction leaning heavily into the dark, glossy and stylized aesthetic that mirrors Highsmith’s literary worlds, utilizing three-dimensional props, moody shadows, and elegant framing in the depths of so many simultaneously luxurious and creepy locations. Because Corbijn renders such sparsely specific definition to the designs of each room, there’s lived-in legitimacy to the interpretation of the imagery that makes it all the easier to immerse the audience in the outlining mentalities of these characters, such as showing poison seconds before Edward sits down for a meal, or the antagonistic lingering from inconsistent camera angles, that inaccurately convey the presence of another without deliberately confirming such, and considering atmosphere goes a long way towards cultivating the necessary seeds of tension to grow such a combative dynamic, it leaves the audience unsuspecting with where it might eventually go, offering dimensions to the idea of life interpreting art, to which Corbijn takes very seriously throughout. If this wasn’t enough, the performances are also a lot of fun from everybody associated, however it comes as no surprise that Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich’s lights shine the brightest throughout the extent of the engagement, with each of them eliciting a transformative appeal to the integrity of their masterful performances. Mirren is nothing short of mesmerizing as Patricia Highsmith, portraying a gleefully bitchy side of the cherished author, that sees the veteran actress exuding a searingly speculative glare, an unyielding arsenal of lethal wit, and a disappearing familiarity that is made tangible by some enveloping make-up and prosthetic designs, effectively bringing Patricia back to life, despite the fact that she and Mirren look nothing alike in their natural forms. As great as Mirren is, it’s remarkably Ehrenreich who pries the attention away from Patricia’s coldly near-death fingers with a masterclass of duality, where the initially mild-mannered and timidly uncomfortable side of Edward’s demeanor gives way to an edgier and more calculating side in tapping into his literary alter ego, turning him from a shy and gullible do-gooder into a confidently menacing adversary who is brought to life by the intensely passionate chemistry shared between he and Olivia Cooke’s Clementine providing a sexy spark to the narratively dependent second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEGATIVES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As previously indicated, there’s much to be commended about the film deviating away from a predictably telegraphed biopic formula, however it doesn’t always lead to beneficial gains in the form of an inferior second half that relies heavier than expected on the story within the story of this film, where the devilishly delicious dynamic of Patricia and Edward sacrifices itself to devolve into a Ripley movie of an imaginatively conceived timeline, shedding with it the irresistibility factor of its tonal balance, which eventually isn’t as compelling with more of a stern seriousness commanding the material. While I myself have been wanting another Ripley movie since the 90’s version starring Matt Damon, the film simply isn’t as enticing or commanding when it outlaws Mirren and her comedic underlining nearly completely from the film’s second half, leaving it feeling like two different movies that are constantly at war with one another over the framed focus of the film, and while the Ripley side of things does have the conductive chemistry of Ehrenreich and Cooke, as well as intense sequences of sex and murder, it simply doesn’t measure up to breaking Patricia of this disconnected isolation from society, eventually deducing her to a supporting character in a movie that quite literally centers around her, all the while ridding the film of any of the tightly-claustrophobic and inescapable tension of its chamber-piece setting. In addition to some questionable directional choices during the movie’s second half, the film is also ailed by some underdeveloped aspects pertaining to the screenplay, such as one involving a colleague of Edward’s, who supposedly goes missing after his own overnight stay at Patricia’s secluded residence. Over the course of the movie’s 101-minute runtime, it constantly feels like it’s driving to some big reveal with this unseen character that is never addressed with any kind of informational follow-up or even incrementally satisfying resolution to make it feel like a justifiable inclusion to the movie’s creativity, and though it’s far from the only character decision that feels egregiously underdeveloped, such as another one involving a family member of Clementine’s who sees through Edward’s sophisticated masking, it is the one that lands the loudest with a deafening thud of minimalized influence, where an actual novel would take more time and creative energy to elicit something bigger and bolder than what we received from these stacking subplots. Finally, While I really appreciated the symbolism of the movie’s metaphorical resolution, especially with what it means to Patricia, it’s enacted so abruptly that it fails to capitalize on an overwhelming majority of the movie’s manifested tension, resulting in a bit of a flatlining climax with no kind of emotional influence over the interpretable imagery. Perhaps it’s an aspect of articulating such morally flexible characters, or even the third act’s reliance on the literary arc over the narrative one, but there’s simply not enough of a measurable impact to depart the audience with influential memorability, leaving a once excessively ambitious plot grounded by such an afterthought of a directional delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OVERALL
A Talent For Murder, like a whodunnit? novel shrouded in mystery, gives us tantalizing twists and tumultuous turns that keeps its readers guessing through a battle of wits and wills, but only as a film does it effectively muster the kind of meaningful performances and stimulating style that further deviates on the expectations of a biopic route, even with the film crucially overlooking the tense-and-taut claustrophobic suspense of its chamber-piece captivity. Despite a top-heavy superiority, Anton Corbijn’s direction seamlessly brings the tangibles of novels to narrative form, slicing and dicing on audience expectations with enough personality to sizzle seductively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Grade: 7.2 or B-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Directed By Anton Corbijn Starring – Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Cooke The Plot – A mysterious young man (Ehrenreich) from a New York publisher is sent to Switzerland to persuade the renowned writer Patricia Highsmith (Mirren) to write one final installment of the Ripley anthology. Rated R for sexual content, some violence, and adult […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,21,7,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9975"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9977,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9975\/revisions\/9977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}