The years are passing too quickly for me. I honestly thought Shailene Woodley was barely out of her teens, if at all. She has done good work before, but she is so miscast as a Baltimore cop who helps the FBI profile a mass murderer that it feels more like a violent Nancy Drew mystery than a cop procedural.
Synopsis:
Woodley is a young police investigator wrestling with the demons of her past when she is recruited by the FBI’s chief investigator (Ben Mendelsohn) to help profile and track the work of a disturbed individual. As the police and FBI launch a nationwide manhunt, they are thwarted at every turn by the individual’s unprecedented behavior. Given her tortured psyche, Eleanor may be the only person who can understand the mind of their assailant and bring him to justice.
Ben Mendelsohn, with his smoky voice and pronounced lisp, is great as the FBI guy, but the script kills even the best moments – it’s all very paint-by-numbers. There is no tension as to who the killer is and finding him feels anti-climactic after too long a wait.
The production is top of the line – the film looks great, but this movie works better as a template for a better film, rather than the one director Damián David Szifron ended up with.