Review: The Pale Blue Eye under-delivers despite strong performances

The Pale Blue Eye drops today on Netflix. A crime/mystery film, it stars Christian Bale as Augustus Landor, a detective brought in to solve a most peculiar murder. Landor employs the help of a young Edgar Allan Poe to assist in the case. Is The Pale Blue Eye worth shining our lantern lights on, or should it be buried under the floorboards? Grab a glass of amontillado as we get into it.

If you’re a huge literary nerd like me, chances are the reason you are interested in watching The Pale Blue Eye at all is because of the historic fiction element. Not only is Edgar Allen Poe a character, but actor Harry Melling does a fine job portraying him. This young Poe is more exuberant than the dreary portrait of him that we all have in our collective memory, although Melling pays respect to that aspect, as well. He strikes a balance between grim and gay. There are one or two moments when he leans in a bit too much on the comic relief, but generally I found this a refreshing portrayal. His performance is the backbone of the film.

A lot of the rest of the film fails to captivate. Mr. Landor, our protagonist, is far less interesting because, while I don’t have any complaints about Bale’s acting, he’s too archetypal. He’s the brooding genius detective whose hiding a drinking problem. It’s all just a bit too familiar, and while there is nothing wrong with tropes, you need to find a way to make them at least feel fresh. The movie doesn’t give us time to care about Mr. Landor before the plot gets rolling. Sprinkling in flashbacks about his missing daughter doesn’t help either. It comes across as an obvious attempt to score sympathy points.

The Pale Blue Eye is predictable and boring

The editing and cinematography of The Pale Blue Eye is serviceable, but it lacks style. The film overall is unmemorable. Other than Poe, the characters didn’t interest me. Neither did the central murder mystery. We don’t know anything about the victim beforehand, and the people who want the murder solved are bossy military higher-ups who inspire neither sympathy or interest. The details of the murder itself are at least interesting, but it’s not enough.

The script is pretty boring, too. Not the dialogue — I think the back-and-forth among the characters is done well — I mean the structure. There are some eye-rolling moments, such as when Landor and Poe go visit a professor of the occult who obviously exists to give exposition. The character has nothing more to him than that. How boring.

And it stays boring for far too long. There is no reason The Pale Blue Eye has to be as long as it is. That said, it doesn’t drag. Instead, it gets to a certain point when you expect it to end, only to go on for another half hour to explain the most pointless, tagged-on twist reveal I’ve seen in a while. Not only was it lame, but for me it weakened the rest of the movie in retrospect. I get what they were going for — every great mystery wants that last turn that makes you say, “Wow really!?!” — but instead I said, “Wow that’s stupid.”

And that’s all I have to say about The Pale Blue Eye. The performances are the saving grace of the film, with Melling being the clear highlight, but it under-delivers in many other areas. If you enjoy mystery and historical fiction, you may find The Pale Blue Eye worth a watch. But would I watch it again? Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

Grade: D+

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