10s Movie Review - Dark Places

Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Mystery
Runtime: 113 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christina Hendricks, Corey Stoll, Drea De Matteo, Tye Sheridan

Description: Libby Day (Charlize Theron) was only eight years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Almost thirty years later, she reluctantly agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.

Review: In 1985, 8-year-old Libby Day witnesses the murder of her mother and sisters. Her brother Ben is identified as the culprit and disappears behind bars. 30 years later, an amateur investigator convinces Libby to delve once again into the evens of that horrific night.

Charlize Theron plays Libby as an unmotivated loner. This makes it very difficult to feel sympathy for her in the first half of the film. Fortunately, Libby as a character begins to come alive more as she confronts her past.

The film uses flashbacks to portray the perspectives of Libby, her mother and her brother. Because of Tye Sheridan’s strong acting, ben’s flashbacks stand out. The transitions are sometimes too abrupt, so the film often jumps into one timeline quickly.

“Dark Places” is based on the book by Gillian Flynn, whose “Gone Girl” was also adapted for film. That film was more successful, both as a book and as a movie. I believe the storytelling in the Flynn’s book works, but in the movie adaptation it is a bit lost.

I believe that “Gone Girl” was mostly more successful because of the director. David Fincher's "Gone Girl" is extremely stylish and atmospheric. That does not mean “Dark Places” is not an entertaining film, and it’s by no means bad. I enjoyed it, it just felt flat at times.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (180)

Here are this weeks trailers.

The Face of an Angel

Description: Both a journalist and a documentary filmmaker chase the story of a murder and its prime suspect.

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Daniel Brühl, Cara Delevingne

Trailer: Trailer "The Face of an Angel"

Comment: I think Daniel Brühl should be in more movies!

Mr. Holmes

Description: An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) looks back on his life, and grapples with an unsolved case involving a beautiful woman.

Director: Bill Condon

Starring: Frances de la Tour, Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada, Roger Allam, Hattie Morahan, Patrick Kennedy, Philip Davis, Milo Parker

Trailer: Trailer "Mr. Holmes"

Comment: I always like a good Sherlock Holmes story.

Dark Places

Description:

Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Starring: Charlize Theron, Drea de Matteo, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks, Chloe Grace Moretz, Corey Stoll, Sterling Jerins, Tye Sheridan, Shannon Kook

Trailer: Trailer "Dark Places"

Comment: If it's any good as "Gone Girl", we're in for a treat!

Faults

Description: Claire (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is under the grip of a mysterious new cult called Faults. Desperate to be reunited with their daughter, Claire's parents recruit one of the world's foremost experts on mind control, Ansel Roth (Leland Orser).

Director: Riley Stearns

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lance Reddick, Beth Grant, Leland Orser, Chris Ellis, John Gries

Trailer: Trailer "Faults"

Comment: It got my attention!

Selfless

Description: An extremely wealthy man (Ben Kingsley) dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man (Ryan Reynolds). But all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origin and the organization that will kill to protect its cause.

Director: Tarsem Singh

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Derek Luke, Victor Garber, Matthew Goode, Natalie Martinez, Michelle Dockery

Trailer: Trailer "Selfless"

Comment: I so hope this is good.