★★☆☆☆

I found it hard to get into or enjoy Secret in Their Eyes. No, it had nothing to do with my mood. Secret in Their Eyes tried for a dark suspense and missed. That is always a big gamble. When it comes to dark suspense, if you miss by even a little bit, the show is a flop.

There were stumbles from the beginning.

We are expected to take it on faith Julia Robert’s character had a daughter she dearly loved. The audience simply wasn’t given anything to care about.

During that early scene when Julia’s character is thanking her partner for calling her a dick, because a chauvinist would have chosen another word, they made her look really haggard. The haggard look should have been used exclusively _after_ her daughter was found dead.

These stumbles may seem small, but they happen early on and allow the audience to disconnect from the film. The film goes happily on assuming the audience has been completely sucked in. Bad assumption.

If you want to see another Julia Roberts movie which proves going easy on the makeup and using proper lighting lets her look as good as she acts, rent Money Monster. A big chunk of her work there is being the voice in an earpiece.

Suspense/Thrillers Today

How do you do a dark suspense/thriller movie in this day and age? Seriously. The older audience has all seen Magic, Silence of the Lambs, the original Nightmare on Elm Street and so many others. How can you introduce suspense to such a jaded audience?

Do you assume your audience will all be wide eyed kids being taken to their first PG-13 movie? Something tells me this last question was what sent the film down the primrose path. They marketed the movie to adults, but had to stay within the range of PG-13. I guess nobody writing the script or involved with production ever bothered to watch Rear Window.

For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.