The Pale Blue Eye: Film Review
Christian Bale and Scott Cooper just can’t stop working together. After collaborating on Out of the Furnace and Hostiles, they’ve teamed up for the third time to make pre-Civil War-era whodunit The Pale Blue Eye.
Set in New York state in 1830, Bale plays local detective Augustus Landor, who is hired to investigate the suspicious hanging and horrifying post-mortem mutilation of a cadet at the United States Military Academy in West Point. As he begins to examine the clues and connect the dots, Landor informally recruits a young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling) to help him gain information on the suspects from the inside.
The story, which Cooper adapted from Louis Bayard’s 2003 novel of the same name, is fictional and features an imagined version of the famed writer and poet, who did genuinely serve in the military in West Point in real life. It also acts as a make-believe origin story for Poe and a way to explain his fascination with the macabre and his interest in telling detective stories.
The Pale Blue Eye is quite a standard murder-mystery procedural in terms of the investigation but the period setting helps the story feel unique and refreshing, while the stunning shots of the harsh wintery landscapes are beautiful to look at. Plus, the compelling mentor-mentee relationship between Landor and Poe elevates the story above your average fare.
I don’t mind a slow-burning story at all but this film felt just a bit too slow and I struggled to concentrate around the middle. However, my patience was rewarded with the unexpected resolution and the game-changing twist that I didn’t see coming at all. That curveball made the film level up and forced me to re-evaluate what had come before.
Cooper assembled a seriously impressive cast. There’s an embarrassment of riches, with stars like Charlotte Gainsbourg and Robert Duvall making minor appearances that don’t offer much for them to do. There’s a big contingent of British talent in this American movie thanks to the likes of Toby Jones (as brilliant as ever), Simon McBurney, Lucy Boynton, Timothy Spall and Gillian Anderson (who is British in my eyes). Bale is as reliable as ever and Melling’s peculiar nature is very intriguing, and together their evolving bond anchors the narrative.
They don’t make serious, slow-burning movies like The Pale Blue Eye much anymore and it’s a shame because this film is rich and engaging.
In selected cinemas from Friday 23rd December and on Netflix from Friday 6th January