The Eyes Have It

The acclaimed 2009 Argentine thriller ‘El Secreto de sus Ojos’ gets the American treatment in ‘Secret in Their Eyes,’ loaded with A-list star power in Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and the rising Chiwetel Ejiofor.  I know, it’s virtually impossible to top a movie that’s won an Oscar for best foreign language film, but surely you can excuse Hollywood for the indulgence in adapting this movie for the American audience since I’m sure many of you (myself included) find the prospect of reading subtitles for two hours straight a daunting one.   

 

Without giving away any spoilers, suffice it to say that SITE is a slow-burning suspense/revenge thriller with a shocking revelation at the end.  If you’ve seen the movie’s trailer, you would gather that the movie centers on the aftermath of a young woman's brutal murder, a young woman who happened to be the daughter of the FBI agent played by Julia Roberts.  The attempt to bring the killer to justice ties together the movie’s three main characters, played to near perfection by Roberts, Ejiofor and Kidman.  The movie employs frequent flashbacks as a device in telling its story then (2002) and now (2015), and while this at first can be rather disorienting and confusing, once you settle down into the movie’s rhythm it flows naturally enough.

 

Although SITE has been panned by critics, not having seen the original Argentine version (yet) gives me the luxury of not being overly critical of this film.  In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed SITE as an old fashioned suspense-mystery thriller, which worked in no small part due to the fine performances delivered by Roberts, Kidman and in particular Ejiofor, who manages to impress me more and more with each movie he starred in. 

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

 

Grade: B+