Hello everyone! The Pale Blue Eye, written and directed by Scott Cooper and inspired by the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard, was released on Netflix on January 06. Today, we will share our experience watching it.
You can check out the Trailer of The Pale Blue Eye here.
We will be sharing the movie review in three parts. It starts with the Beginning, the Middle, and then the End. Also, we will be rating the movie based on these three parameters.
The Beginning: Takes Off Well
Christian Bale, as Augustus Landor, is brought in by the high-ranking authorities of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, to investigate the suspected suicide of one of their cadet Leroy Fry. However, things go haywire when Leroy’s heart is carved out of his body while it still lies in the morgue.
Harry Melling, starring Cadet Edgar Allan Poe, who has a penchant for literature and poetry, approaches Augustus with his artistic insights into the suspected murder. The story sets here, and Augustus and Edgar journey to dethrone the suspect.
So the Beginning takes off well. Extraction of the heart from the body post suspected murder rakes in the necessary curiosity. The pace is slow yet admissible. In the Beginning, our eye sights are largely mesmerized, gazing and appreciating the dark, grey, gothic, and snowy landscape of West Point, New York.
The Middle: Predictable As You Go
As the investigation moves forward, Augustus finds some evidence of superstitious wrongdoing. More incidents happen, all pointing towards the same misconduct for the suspected killing. But, where are the considerable challenges before Augustus Landor to uncover this? Where is the Life-On-The-Line element? That’s the missing part.
Further into the movie, you can anticipate who benefits from the wrongdoings without foreseeing it. So, the middle of the film gets pretty lame and predictable. The protagonist faces no significant obstacles in his hunt for the truth. Everything is handy!
The only highlight here is the budding relationship between Augustus Landor and Cadet Edgar Poe.
The End: Convenient and Nothing Astonishing
As we approach the end, it is more disappointing than the predecessor as, yet again, we are compelled to reiterate that there are no significant eyebrows-raising moments, no potent scenes that shall push you out of your seat. Instead, the end is a mundane monologue with no visuals.
When we checked the timeline, it had more than 20-25 minutes of screen time left, and our hopes ran high. But, to no avail, the final chapter was full of monologues and fewer visuals. Edgar brushes off with significant clues and confronts Augustus. Still, the mystery crumbles like a catastrophe due to a lack of visuals. The final act falls flat like a house of cards.
Final Verdict:
The Pale Blue Eye starts well, and cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi has beautifully captured the dark, snowy, gothic America of the 1830s. The production and costume design are top-notch.
Christian Bale, Harry Melling, and every other character have played their role well. However, the hidden gem to watch out for is Harry Melling as Cadet Edgar Allan Poe. Harry has tightly gripped his character having a curve for literature and poetry. His dialogue delivery, attire, confidence, and interactions with fellow personalities charm us. We loved watching Harry Melling as Cadet Edgar on the screen.
Talking about the storyline, it loses its steam midway and crashes like a rocket right after taking off. Cinema is all about visuals. The audience can better relate to the story with more visuals and fewer dialogues. However, The Pale Blue Eye settles with More Tell and Less Show, so much so that even the well-kept exposure, in the end, feels futile.
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