by Scott Batchelor, Contributing Writer
Every now and then, there comes enough star power to make a film worth worth watching. Reptile stars Benicio Del Toro, Justin Timberlake, and Alicia Silverstone. There are some other familiar faces that you will be able to pick out, but this is more of a gritty detective piece in the vein of True Detective. It is a slow burn through and through. The small amount of action some more bloodthirsty viewers may be looking for is sparse, and even then, it is over before your heart can get pumping. But from the onset, you should know if this movie is for you. Anybody who knows what it is about beforehand will have a good time
We open with Will Grady (Timberlake) and his real estate partner and girlfriend, Summer Elswick (Matilda Lutz), cleaning a new house to put on the market, but something is just a bit off. Will is trying to rekindle a passion that she does not recuperate. That night, they get into a small spat because she did not come to a presentation he was giving to future realtors. There is clearly trouble in paradise.
Will gets a text from Summer that she needs to see him at one of the houses, and he rushes over to find her slain body in the middle of an empty bedroom. This is one of the reasons that you know this is more about the characters than the action. We see just enough of the body to be disturbed, but not anything that goes into gory detail. We only find out how gruesome it is from the medical examiner.
A large part of this movie is characters reacting to information. More specifically, Del Toro’s Detective Tom Nichols, and I am not even sure you could call what he does reacting. He spends a majority of the film giving stoic looks, not revealing his hand. But even without being the most expressive character, he gives plenty in the way he delivers his lines. Even though the world around him is trying to keep a straight face, every character is aware of Nichols’ character. Some people suggest to him to break his morals, but he is very grounded thanks to his wife, Judy (Silverstone)
Judy is very much involved in her husband’s career without it being too hard to believe. She is a sounding board for Tom; he has a troubled past with colleagues and partners, so it makes sense that he would go to her before his new partners. Their relationship is one of the high points of this film. They are real characters who are more than just a murder case. The interaction between the pair as they remodel the kitchen and work the case together provides some fun levity to an otherwise dark picture.
Michael Pitt rounds out our colorful cast of suspects and characters as Eli Phillips, a man who has had it in for the Grady family over a perceived bad deal that wrecked his family, leading to Eli’s father taking his own life. Pitt plays him unhinged enough, but not so out of touch with reality that he isn’t able to clock exactly who Nichols is. Pitt plays against all other parties well, and you really feel annoyed with him as he dodges questions and doesn’t really help anyone.
Most of the film is character work, and on that front, it mostly succeeds. Watching all the characters’ stories intertwine is what makes this an enjoyable experience. Everybody has a type, and it is unique to see how they play out against each other. Trust is slowly formed and then taken away, which requires multiple scenes with the same characters, but each dynamic shifts just a bit. Timberlake finds the balance between making us question who he really is. We see him everywhere from seemingly distraught over the loss of his girlfriend to hearing how we don’t have the full story. It is only once all the cards are played that you should feel comfortable knowing who is aligned with who.
The characterization also largely works because the film is shot very deliberately. Because there is a lack of action, we have to be drawn to something, and it largely succeeds. There are multiple shots that require mirrors that draw the viewer in. Why use a mirror here? What is the story teller trying to tell us? There is a lot to be gained by paying attention to the staging of the characters. It creates an extra layer of mystery for those invested in the story. This movie has a lot that makes it enjoyable but just misses where it counts.
Because ultimately, this type of movie lives or dies with how the case plays out, and that is why I can’t fully recommend this one. It takes twists and turns that can be easily predicted. Certain characters reveal way too much with just a line or two, which takes away some of the mystery. Once you get a bit ahead of the characters, you lose interest in where the story goes.
Thankfully, though, Del Toro does a great job of holding it all together. We get enough of a glimpse into Nichols that we root for him every step of the way. In a movie where everybody’s motive is questionable, being able to know you are on the side of good makes you that much more invested.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
Reptile is currently streaming on Netflix
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