Scott Cooper (dir.) | Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton, Gillian Anderson (acts.)

Although I did not happen to watch any of their previous collaborations, Christian Bale and director Scott Cooper seem to get along very well as they insistently work together for the third time. The Pale Blue Eye is the seventh feature film of Cooper, who priorly made a mark with his 2015 movie Black Mass, in which Johnny Depp portrays FBI’s one of the most wanted crime bosses Whitey Bulger. Cooper also worked with Bale in Out of the Furnace in 2013 and Hostiles in 2017. This time Bale shows up as a producer also. The last point to make about the movie’s production is the acquisition by Netflix for 55 million dollars in March 2021 vis-à-vis other streaming services that also had made bids. As we can see, The Pale Blue Eye was already financially promising and contended for during its production. But what does it provide to its audience, and what do we encounter?

The film is based on a 2003 Louis Bayard novel of the same name and is another detective movie as the recent popular release of Netflix, Glass Onion, is. One fascination with the film emerges from the inclusion of famous American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe. Set in 1830 New York West Point, the movie is based on reputed detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) being assigned to investigate the murder of a US Military Academy cadet whose heart is violently carved out from his chest.

Self-assured but alcoholic and retired detective, Landor, meets an intriguing cadet during his research: Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), who is a cadet fond of literature and delved into philosophizing on life in a militarist setting with masculinity in the foreground. Almost a heretical in an environment built upon authority and hierarchy rather than freedom, which catches the eye of everyone in the story. As a matter of fact, Edgar Allan Poe steered himself to the army in 1827 due to the difficulties with financing his university education. Landor hires the fictional Poe without pay to collect information inside the academy while more violent murders with the same style succeed, fueling the fire. Yet, we suspect something is not right with Landor in the underlying theme as the actions carry over. Bale hints that Landor is having some troubles with his work and life with his lavishing performance, yet we remain puzzled. Hence, The Pale Blue Eye attempts to become richer and more layered than a mundane detective adventure. Melling’s moving performance as Poe also needs to be addressed in this regard.

The Pale Blue Eye is not half bad in maintaining its plot twists while integrating interesting subjects like occultism and idiopathy as the duo of Landor & Poe proceeds with their investigation. However, it does not provide a sphere for the audience to connect with all ongoings. On the one side, Bale is trying to prove something more than a detective story is on play with his layered performance. Melling, on the other side, wants to reveal something special with the story, but the movie does not provide enough to convince its audience why they should pay attention to The Pale Blue Eye more than other genre samples. -Reminds me of Bale’s one of the other three appearances in 2022, Amsterdam. Bale (aside from John David Washington, Margot Robbie, and Robert De Niro) was part of the silver lining of that feature, which was hardly commendable otherwise.- Returning to The Pale Blue Eye, the movie is visually glamorous with its highly pleasing cinematography, and the story is attractive in actuality with the murders decorated, while is quite timid to say anything about its story right to the end. Hence, it is as difficult for the audience to bond with the characters and plot. The protagonist, Landor, remains superficial for most part of the movie despite Bale’s every intention to express something, which perhaps may be due to his additional production responsibility. The resolutions about individuals and society are late, making them inadequate to give meaning.

In general, The Pale Blue Eye comes out as a modest movie while not offering a fortune to its audience other than its decent detective story arc and visual appeal.

PS: It’s worth mentioning Robert Duvall’s cameo as a reason to watch.

2/5

My Letterboxd

The web pages of The Pale Blue Eye:
The Pale Blue Eye (2022) — IMDb
The Pale Blue Eye (2022) — Letterboxd