All week long, I was looking forward to Friday night. TGIF – we had ourselves a good stew recipe ready to fire up in the Dutch oven. Work was slowing down. No plans – nowhere to be. And, a movie that I’ve been stoked about ever since I saw the trailer dropping on Netflix: The Pale Blue Eye. Scott Cooper writes and directs this film based on the book authored by Louis Bayard. It centers around Augustus Landor (Christian Bale), a detective (who is sitting atop a mountain of his own trauma, mind you) tasked with solving a murder at West Point all the way back in 1830. He enlists the help of a young Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling). That’s right. Edgar Allan Poe. Hell yeah. What follows is a stylistic period piece set to unravel an unsettling mystery.
You’ve got Bale doing Bale things. You’ve got Melling at the absolute best I’ve seen him. You’ve got a foot of snow on the ground, an old time cabin, and plenty of candlelight. Take me on a fucking ride, boys! Let’s go!
Or not. The Pale Blue Eye fails to really take off where it could. It still does plenty of things well. You can’t help but appreciate Bale’s talent, and Melling jumps off the screen as Poe. It’s a film that is heavily anchored by these two acting performances. The cinematography is splendid. You feel the cold isolation and the dreary, foggy nature of New York in the 1830s almost as if it’s a character in the film in its own way. The blues, purples, whites, and grays jump off the screen, contrasted nicely with the burning orange glow of a lit candle in a study. It’s great. That sort of imagery feels like a nice sort of homage to the nature of Poe himself. It’s a story that sort of dances around supernatural and occult elements without ever fully diving into them.
But, man – the plot is rather one dimensional. It failed to really captivate me beyond the great acting and by the time we get to the big twist ending, I’m ready for bed. It’s pretty direct – there’s no cavalcade of suspects. It’s not a whodunit by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a slow burn story that, to me, focused a little too much on the human emotion side of things, and not enough on the intricate plot side of things. I can appreciate the art of letting a moment hang in the air. I can appreciate the art of using facial expressions to act more effectively. But, eventually, y’all have to say something! I picked up my remote twice because I thought Netflix had frozen, but it was just ol’ Edgar being dramatic.
I liked it – I know it sounds like I’m bashing it, but I did enjoy it on an atmospheric level. I instantly added it to my winter rotation, but I still felt like it could’ve been much, much more. I don’t know how I would’ve felt had I not watched this from the comfort of my own home, snuggled up under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate (pro tip: put some Peeps in it instead of regular marshmallows). I was able to pause the movie when I needed to get up to fetch a drink. If I was in a theater, I might’ve become bored with the pace of this thing. Who knows? That’s really my only major gripe with this flick. You slowed it down a little too much.
In the end, I felt a sort of melancholy…not so different from the kind of melancholy this movie tonally projects. Maybe that was by design, and hey – if so, you got the impact you wanted, Mr. Cooper. You get a 3/5 from me for Bale, Melling, and the vibes. Now, I’m going to bed.
PS. I absolutely love that if you Google this movie, one of the suggested searches that pops up is about whether or not this is based on a true story. I’m not here to judge, but come on, folks.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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