Review of The Two Faces of January (2014) by Nicholasbert — 26 Sep 2014

As it often happens, this film features top notch cinematography and all-in-all good acting, but lacks the plot elements to make it completely intriguing, given the genre. In fact, there were a few flaws that impeded thorough enjoyment: Isaac's character is just too creepy and too little mysterious, and Kirsten Dunst is a bit gray, almost stuck in a film school persona; the mixture between mystery and thriller leans well towards thriller, while failing to deliver a thriller's thrills. Also, the psychological profiling isn't handled very carefully, with Mortensen going from a "Oh-what-have-I-done" kind of guy to a ruthless, cold calculator in a matter of minutes.

On the other hand, the consistent choice of colours and the sandy settings provide you with a wonderful thing to look at, and as I said the actors are good. Too bad for the suspense, which really isn't there unless you fish it.