Review of The Oxford Murders (2008) by Anthony L — 24 Jun 2012

I am a sucker for âwhodunitâ? movies. And I am an even bigger sucker for movies that have a convoluted puzzle to solve (Sherlock Holmes). Plus I canâ(TM)t get enough of it when it involves delving into mathematics and philosophy. Youâ(TM)d think Iâ(TM)d give this movie highest possible rating, but alas I must be honest.

The Oxford Murders is good, it isnâ(TM)t great but it certainly isnâ(TM)t as bad as some of the other reviews Iâ(TM)ve read have let on. John Hurt turns in a great performance here and even though you donâ(TM)t see Elijah Wood pop up all that often he is always pretty consistent when he does.

This movie was an awesome idea that never fully reached its full potential in my humble opinion. But I must admit that I am such a sucker for the kind of discussion we see in the first five minutes of the film that I wish I could have just watched two hours of that.

The movie lags at certain points, and some portions of the movie seemed a bit pointless and just distracted from the overall narrative. And it should be noted that the plot does get extremely convoluted and the mystery twists and turns and it should also be noted that if you donâ(TM)t follow along easily you will get lost. In the end this movie looks great, has good performances, and is technically well put together but depending on your tastes youâ(TM)ll either enjoy it or fall asleep half way through.