Review of Secret in Their Eyes (2015) by Matt C — 27 Nov 2015

Secret in Their Eyes is the type of movie where it comes out after virtually no marketing, and you're like, "Oh, that's out? Wait, what is that? I haven't I heard of this? Oh, look, something else to distract me with.

" That thought process also pretty much sums up my emotions while watching this movie. I haven't read the Argentine novel on which this is based or the original movie that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Feature, so I can't speak on behalf of how this does justice to the content that proceeded it, but I know that it can't be good.

This is one of the most generic movies in recent memory, one where its actors look bored and it's very clear that the people behind the camera just want to go home. Secret in Their Eyes is basically just the story of some FBI investigator played by Chiwetel Ejiofor that attempts to uncover who assaulted and murdered Julia Roberts's daughter.

Meanwhile, he's crushing on his District Attorney supervisor played by Nicole Kidman like he's a six-year-old that likes a girl in his class because she has pretty hair. There's also a bunch of really contrived stuff, but it's so incredibly difficult to care about that it might as well not exist.

In fact, why does this movie as a whole exist? The characters might as well be cardboard cutouts of famous actors; they'd still have the same amount of depth either way. The main plot drive--the murder of Julia Roberts's daughter--holds no weight because neither of them have any sense of personality, and we don't even see the daughter for more than one scene in a flashback.

The emotions are dependent are basic human sympathy. Ejiofor is defined by his thirst for Kidman, and Kidman just kind of follows people around and shoots cutting glares at others. The plot structure is very sloppy, as it constantly cuts between 2002 and 2015, the only sense of identity between the two time periods being the peppering of gray hair on Ejiofor's beard.

Roberts and Kidman look virtually the same in both time periods. I'm sure that writer/director Billy Ray tried--maybe I'm overselling it by saying "tried"--to be subtle in his switching between the past and present, but it comes off like he forgot that the movie takes place in two different years while he was directing it.

The direction also undercuts what should be a trio of strong performances, because again, everyone here looks bored and like they just want to get their check and leave the set. Roberts looks like she's about to fall asleep half of the time, and Kidman's American accent falters, showcasing her true Australian voice.

She was amazing in movies like Eyes Wide Shut, Birth, and Stoker, so what the hell was she doing here? So in the end, Secret in Their Eyes just screams made-for-TV in how flimsy its story is told and how surprisingly tame its supposedly disturbing subject matter is.

It's so boring that I got tired of this movie about 30 minutes into its 111-minute runtime. This seriously just could have been made into an episode of CSI, laughable moments and all. It's not like it's among the worst movies that I've ever seen, but it's still one of the worst movies of 2015.

But hey, I'd rather be bored than angry, so at least they got that right. 3.7/10, awful, two thumbs down, far below average, etc.