(3 / 5)
A promising thriller with a B-grade ending.
The best thrillers keep us guessing and intrigued up until the end when the full story is revealed and everything slots perfectly into place. The story is so carefully crafted that you are left stunned at the final outcome. Then there’s the less than perfect ones. Sure, they can be just as entertaining and leave you eager for the ending – but then it comes and you realise the only reason why you would never have guessed it is because it’s so absurd. Yep, Secret In Their Eyes is one of those…
In the aftermath of 9/11, a team of investigators including Ray Casten (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Claire Sloane (Nicole Kidman) and Jessica Cobb (Julia Roberts) are working for the counter-terrorism unit of the FBI. When Jessica’s daughter Carolyn (Zoe Graham) is found in a dumpster, Ray takes it upon himself to investigate.
The story is based upon an Argentinian novel from 2005, and has been written by the film’s director, Billy Ray. The novel was initially made into a Spanish-speaking film similarly titled ‘The Secret In Their Eyes’ in 2009. The 2009 film is a full 2 stars ahead of this version on IMDB, so you’d probably be better off checking out the original instead.
I can see why they needed such a strong cast (Both Kidman and Roberts are Oscar-winners, Ejofor has been nominated) to play these characters, but I am surprised that each of them accepted after reading the closing pages of the script. You can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed for them.
Secret In Their Eyes is in fact decent viewing up until the disappointing finale, so I had to rank it a little higher than average considering the overall experience. The film premieres in Sweden on March 18.