‘Reptile Review: Benicio Del Toro Spices Up A Familiar But Compelling Crime Drama Aspiring For Villeneuve Darkness [TIFF]

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18 Sep, 2023

‘Reptile Review: Benicio Del Toro Spices Up A Familiar But Compelling Crime Drama Aspiring For Villeneuve Darkness [TIFF]

Everyone wants to be David Fincher when you're doing a serious procedural murder mystery like Netflix's erratic but still impressive The Reptile . And, of course, as gray and scary as all good serial killer movies or sophisticated detective thrillers these days , director Grant Singer might refer to a Fincher film here and there or try to add some ambiguity to Steven Soderbergh's Kimmy. But there's an argument to be made that singer and actor Benicio del Toro , who co-wrote the film and seems to have given it all sorts of irreverent eccentric personas, had similar but different motives, including the darkness of Denis-Villeneuve's fledgling nocturnal crime . drama, Atman.

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Here Me Del Toro worked with Villeneuve on Sicario and recently told cinematographer Roger Deakin that the experience and writer-driven film made him want to direct. Yes, step by step, and those first steps may be his first official writings about "reptiles".

So yes, The Reptile seems to be going for something specific, maybe more along the lines of Villeneuve's Prisoners , but with hints of all the bad crime dramas he's been making lately. And let's be honest, "creepy" isn't. But the desire itself—the apparent desire to turn an ordinary murder drama into something greater—remains elusive. Ambitious endeavors are often interesting, even if they are not always successful.

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In fact, while The Reptile is about a detective trying to solve the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, it's also about a cop who loves his job and excels at it, but solves it through a rigorous process. do that. Crime - This is a job you don't like. And if that's not a reflection of the dark spirits, unfortunately, that Emily Blunt struggles with spiritually in Sicario , I don't know what is.

Written by Singer, del Toro and Benjamin Brewer . The Creeper follows Tom Nichols (del Toro), a former detective who tries to make a fresh start by moving to Maine after his former partner is convicted of multiple crimes. Philadelphia. . When Summer Elswick ( Matilda Lotz ), a young real estate agent, is unexpectedly killed in a gruesome murder, Nichols, who has more murder experience than the local police, is called in as the lead detective.

He had almost as many suspects to work with. That strength is that the plot of The Reptile is unpredictable, full of twists and turns, and while dynamic, it's not really the point of the film. The Reptiles is about people, professions, the quiet respect for work, the lack of reciprocity, and the complexities of being on a cop's payroll, all wrapped into a clever plot.

Plus, each role has an interesting supporting cast that doesn't suffer. Despite its predictable plot, The Creeper suffers from some unexpected twists and turns. Meanwhile, Nichols and his partner Dan Cleary (an excellent Ato Essando) must find everything they can. Will's grieving friend Grady, who discovered his body ( Justin Timberlake ), his soon-to-be ex-husband ( Karl Glassman ), and even a stranger ( Michael Pitt ) who has long harbored a grudge against Grady. Plus, he's full of conspiracy theories and seems downright corrupt.

Pitt can be eccentric, and for this film, he's a bridge too far; it's as if a good actor was asked to play the most eccentric character and then apparently have the most unique characteristics possible (grunge psychopaths, period). .

However, a smart crime film is always interested in the souls of its characters, even more so in their stories, and in this film, home for its hero is the heart. So the home life of Nichols and his wife (Alicia Silverstone, the best ever) becomes more than just a narrative element in the story (written out of proportion). The film's quirky elements are both familiar—the trials and tribulations of renovating a home—and deeper (a couple trying to live a new life after a mental scandal that clearly haunts them). Nichols just wanted a new home to find some peace and quiet. But this complicated new case and all the events arising from it make that dream impossible.

All of the local cops that Nichols is under pressure from - Eric Bogosian as Chief , Domenic Lombardozzi as himself, and Mike Benioski as local chief - are interesting roles, and perhaps more importantly, they all feel like fully realized people. .

Shot by cinematographer Michael Gioulakis (" Us ," " The Old ," " It Follows "), "Reptile" has a true crime noir feel. Similarly, composer Yar Eliazar Glutman ( " Joker ," " All Quiet on the Western Front ") helps keep the mood sharp and sharp.

Most importantly, as Nichols examines all of the suspects' motives, top to bottom, with great probability, but with the utmost care, the detective begins to realize that this is something bigger and more sinister than himself, entangled in a larger web. . In drug trafficking, real estate, police work and undercover deals.

As things escalate, Nichols begins to realize that it's getting to him, and it's more bitter than he can handle; Most of the unfortunate people who would be killed were probably naive to how it played out.

Objectively, "Reptiles" was not as successful as his other films. It is based on the desire to shed dead skin and many lies to become a new self and, in this case, to achieve true wholeness. Although this film succeeds on many levels. Nichols' attempt to start over and discover the unacceptable and hard-to-bear truth, the common theme is the dream; For a new home, a new life, a sense of stability.

During the night, Nichols has a ghostly face that feeds his paranoia, and everything he wants is there: his home, his job, his family, and all illusions are finally shattered when his vain memoir, Chinatown, becomes absurd. Was it worth the deep self-confidence and all the cruel calculations? - Also a piece of reflection and review of the Villeneuve school that you finally got.

However, while these elements don't quite mesh together, it's the quality that sets The Reptile apart from the average murder mystery. Yes, Reptiles is a very popular film in many ways, and Fincher/Villeneuve wanted a less favorable look to the film. But Singer's film seems to aim for more, and sometimes there's something to be said for that.

And hell, we haven't even talked about del Toro's weird but wonderful way, obviously the writing and of course the acting, of trying to add a lot of flavor, spice and spice to Nichols' character. From his obsession with renovations and wondering if he can afford this or that, to his jealousy of his wife's advances, to his distrust of his past reputation, to the public dance moves that earned him the title of "Oklahoma police' nickname, Nichols is furious. . . Very realistic and interesting (here you wonder if they want to make a movie about these characters or Sicario 2 ).

It might be strange to blame del Toro for all of this. However, the eccentricities and unconventional personalities that del Toro brings to many of his popular characters are very similar. So it's just another interesting layer that's sometimes a bit meat and potatoes or recognizable. Then the "reptile", the second murder that followed? Unfortunately, there are none. I'm definitely eager to see what Singer directs next, and what del Toro does writing-wise and hopefully delve deeper into Heart of Darkness aesthetically, descriptively, cinematically, and emotionally. Of course. [B]

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