The Pale Blue Eye

12/23/20222h 8m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ Every heart tells a tale. ~

Overview:

West Point, New York, 1830. When a cadet at the burgeoning military academy is found hanged with his heart cut out, the top brass summons former New York City constable Augustus Landor to investigate. While attempting to solve this grisly mystery, the reluctant detective engages the help of one of the cadets: a strange but brilliant young fellow by the name of Edgar Allan Poe.

Director:

Scott Cooper

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$72,000,000.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

based on novel or book
winter
detective
investigation
historical figure
murder
gothic horror
occult
west point
book
1830s

Cast

Christian Bale

~ as ~

Augustus Landor

Harry Melling

~ as ~

Edgar Allan Poe

Lucy Boynton

~ as ~

Lea Marquis

Toby Jones

~ as ~

Dr. Daniel Marquis

Simon McBurney

~ as ~

Captain Hitchcock

Timothy Spall

~ as ~

Superintendent Thayer

Robert Duvall

~ as ~

Jean-Pepe

Harry Lawtey

~ as ~

Artemus Marquis

Gillian Anderson

~ as ~

Julia Marquis

Charlotte Gainsbourg

~ as ~

Patsy

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

Nathan
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
The Pale Blue Eye had great performances, fantastic cinematography, and a decent story but fails in terms of pacing and a bloated runtime that did not feel warranted.

Christian Bale is fantastic in this role. He is incredibly intense, being able to capture the seriousness of his detective work balanced with the emotions of his unfortunate tragedies in life. A performance of this caliber is expected of Bale, but what was a surprise is the standout performance of Harry Melling. Melling was whimsical and tad odd with his portrayal of the famous Edgar Allen Poe. He legitimately stole every scene he was, including the ones with Bale.

The film was quite long and drawn out. The beginning act did fine as the audience is still learning the world and the crimes committed. But after that wears off it begins to drag going into a climatic third act. A lot of this bloat could have been cut down to create a better viewing experience. That being said, I did enjoy the story of this film. It was engaging and had some twists that I think worked pretty well, although the ending did leave me with a few questions.

Score: 61% Verdict: Decent