Boston Strangler Review: A Middling True Crime Drama
David Fincher's footprints are all over Boston Strangler, the new true-crime drama from writer-director Matt Rasky. Whether it was intended remains a mystery, as the film's lead reporter Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) comes dangerously close to recreating one of the most famous scenes from Fincher's true crime masterpiece, The Zodiac . However, unlike the hit 2007 drama Boston Strangler , Boston-based journalist Knightley doesn't bother to let the fear of the moment build before escaping one of the suspect's potential traps.
The film's overt homage to the Zodiac isn't the only time "Boston Strangler" struggles to live up to its ambitions. First, the film's refreshingly fast pace helps set it apart from many other true crime dramas in recent years. Boston Strangler , on the other hand, tries to cram so much material into its 112-minute running time that it ends up feeling overcrowded and underdeveloped. Not only does the film not give its established stars all the work they deserve, it often chooses to jump from scene to scene, preventing the audience from sitting down and feeling the emotional weight of its truly tragic story.
© by Digital Trends. Chris Cooper sits behind the Boston Strangler editorial team.The action of the film takes place in the early 60s. The Boston Strangler tells the story of reporter Loretta Knightley, who accidentally finds herself in the Lifestyle section of her newspaper when she begins to report on the appearance of a serial killer in Boston. Her discovery that a recent series of murders share some uncanny similarities leads Loretta to become her paper's lead reporter on the real-life Boston Drowning, who killed more than 10 women in Boston over the course of several years. Along the way, Loretta's editor Jack MacLaine (Chris Cooper) sets her up with investigative partner Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), one of the few female reporters at his paper.
Loretta and Gene soon become the lead reporters for the Boston Strangler, angering the Boston Police Department and its commissioner (Bill Kemp). But as the investigation progresses, Loretta's interest in the case quickly turns into a full-blown obsession. Not only does the case begin to threaten the shaky stability of Loretta's marriage and family life, but the attention surrounding her begins to put her and Gene in serious danger.
As the plot suggests, The Boston Strangler follows the same general arc as many crime and news thrillers before it. Loretta's emotional journey from aspiring reporter to dangerously obsessed reporter intent on catching a Boston strangler as she prepares to conduct her first real investigation bears a striking resemblance to the puzzle-solving characters and even the naivety of Jake Gyllenhaal's cartoon Zodiac . FBI intern Foster in The Silence of the Lambs . Fortunately, Knightley's tightly controlled performance manages to bring some real humanity to Loretta's story in the film.
© Digital Trends by 20th Century StudiosOpposite her, Carrie Coon continues to prove herself as one of the most reliable actresses in Hollywood. As Jean Cole, she brings much-needed credibility to The Boston Strangler , helping to ground its story with the kind of businesslike professionalism the film desperately needs. Together, she and Knightley share an infectious on-screen chemistry, but the film doesn't spend nearly as much time exploring Loretta and Gene's friendship as it should. Instead of letting Coon take center stage as the host of The Boston Strangler , Gene becomes an important supporting figure in Loretta's journey.
The film never does enough for the rest of the talented cast. In addition to Coon, Chris Cooper, Alessandro Nivolo, Morgan Spector, Bill Camp, and Rory Cochrane appear in disappointingly thin roles. Despite his commanding screen presence, Spector's performance as Loretta's husband feels particularly dull. Ruskin's script never devotes enough energy to exploring Loretta's marriage, which seriously undermines her transformation from supportive husband to disapproving bastard.
© Digital Trends by 20th Century StudiosThe shallow depictions of many of Boston Strangler's key relationships and moments are reflected in its dull visual palette. To further emphasize the darkness of the story and scene, Ruskin and cinematographer Ben Cutchins applied a harsh filter to The Boston Strangler , making the film unnervingly dirty and dimly lit. Like many thrillers before it, the film makes the mistake of sacrificing visual clarity in hopes of overemphasizing the already dark atmosphere of the script.
All of these decisions make Boston Strangler a great but easily forgettable crime thriller that doesn't delve as deeply into its true story or characters as it deserves. Ruskin's ambitions for the film are clear from start to finish, but there's a frustrating emptiness at the heart of The Boston Strangler that prevents it from generating the sympathy or horror that its story demands. Finally, the film shows that it is relatively easy to cite the work of your colleagues. The hard part is replicating their accuracy and control.
The Boston Strangler is now available to stream on Hulu.
