by Foster Harlfinger, Contributing Writer

The year is 1830. The apparent suicide of a young cadet has caused a stir in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, though things are not always as they seem. Dr. Daniel Marquis (Toby Jones), the local medical examiner, soon provides the West Point officials with an update of a most curious and upsetting nature. Shortly after the fallen trainee’s unorthodox hanging, it seems that his heart had been meticulously carved and subsequently removed from his chest.

Flustered by the brutality of the case, Colonel Sylvanus Thayer (Timothy Spall), the school’s superintendent, and Captain Hitchcock (Simon McBurney), the Academy commandant and Thayer’s second-in-command, enlist the help of widowed detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale). As Landor noses around the snow-covered grounds of West Point, he finds himself repeatedly crossing paths with a mysterious young cadet and burgeoning poet by the name of Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling). Together, the pair embark upon a perilous investigation to uncover the truth of this grisly matter, knowing all the while that the sinister butcher could be waiting for them just around the corner.

The initial premise of director Scott Cooper’s The Pale Blue Eye sounds too good to be true — a seasoned detective teams up with Edgar Allan Poe to solve a murder? Sign me up! Unfortunately, despite the film’s promising setup, the journey Cooper takes to reveal the film’s secrets takes far too long for a resolution that comes somewhat out of left field. Though The Pale Blue Eye arguably falls apart in its final act, the trip it takes to get there is not without its merits.

The film’s greatest strength comes from Cooper’s unsettling direction and Masanobu Takayanagi’s chilly, nighttime cinematography, both of which create exactly the sort of haunting atmosphere one would expect from such a delicious premise. Going further, in spite of the film’s restrained approach to the murder mystery genre, its impressive troupe of actors certainly comes to play. Melling makes for an enjoyably over-the-top Poe, and Bale delivers a reliably layered performance as our lead. Beyond supporting players like Jones, Spall, and McBurney, welcome mainstays of many a British ensemble, The Pale Blue Eye also boasts appearances from veterans Robert Duvall, Gillian Anderson, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, to name a few. Jones and Anderson, in particular, make for an especially delectable pair as a husband-and-wife duo with their fair share of family secrets. 

The ingredients for success are all present, but The Pale Blue Eye is frustratingly unable to earn the twists and turns of its final half-hour. The film never provides enough pieces of the puzzle for its audience to maintain a fighting chance of putting it all together. That said, there is enough enjoyment to be had from the film’s icy tone and delightfully eerie ensemble cast to make it a worthwhile investment, so long as one is content to be underwhelmed by the film’s conclusion.

Score: 6/10

The Pale Blue Eye is currently playing in limited theaters, and will be streaming on Netflix on January 6


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