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The Pale Blue Eye

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the novel, see The Pale Blue Eye (novel). For the Velvet Underground song, see Pale Blue Eyes.

The Pale Blue Eye
Release poster
Directed byScott Cooper
Screenplay byScott Cooper
Based onThe Pale Blue Eye
by Louis Bayard
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMasanobu Takayanagi
Edited byDylan Tichenor
Music byHoward Shore
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • December 23, 2022 (2022-12-23) (United States)
  • January 6, 2023 (2023-01-06) (Netflix)
Running time
130 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$72 million[1]

The Pale Blue Eye is a 2022 American mystery thriller film written and directed by Scott Cooper,[2] adapted from the 2006 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard.[3] The film features an ensemble cast that includes Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall. Its plot follows veteran detective Augustus Landor in 1830 West Point, New York, as he investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy with the aid of Edgar Allan Poe, a young military cadet.

The Pale Blue Eye was released in select cinemas on December 23, 2022, before its streaming release on January 6, 2023, by Netflix. The film received mixed reviews.

Plot

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In October 1830, alcoholic retired detective Augustus Landor is asked by the military to investigate the hanging of Cadet Leroy Fry at the United States Military Academy. Landor is a widower whose daughter Mattie ran off a few years ago.

After Fry was hanged, his heart was removed from his body. Examining the corpse, Landor finds a small fragment of a note in Fry's hand. Marks suggest that he did not hang himself but was murdered. Landor secretly enlists the help of Edgar Allan Poe, another cadet at the academy. Poe and Landor deduce that the note was summoning Fry to a secret meeting. After a cow and a sheep are found butchered with their hearts removed, it is suspected that the murder could be linked to black magic rituals.

Another cadet, Ballinger, is found hanged with his heart and genitals removed. A third cadet, Stoddard, disappears; Landor presumes Stoddard had reason to believe he was next in line to be killed. Landor and Poe suspect the family of Dr. Daniel Marquis, who performed the autopsy on Fry. Particular suspicion is on his son Artemus and his daughter Lea, who suffers from random seizures. Landor confronts Dr. Marquis, who admits that he resorted to black magic to cure Lea of her seizures.

Poe is drugged and finds Artemus and Lea about to cut out his heart in accordance with the ritual. Landor rescues Poe, but the building catches fire and Lea and Artemus die. Thinking that the case is solved, the military thanks Landor for his service. However, Poe confronts Landor with his realization that the handwriting on the note fragment in Fry's hand matches that of Landor. It becomes apparent that Landor was the killer of the cadets.

Two years earlier, Landor's daughter Mattie was raped by Fry, Ballinger, and Stoddard after attending her first ball. Traumatized, she killed herself by jumping off a cliff. Landor pretended that she ran away. Distraught, he set out to avenge his daughter. He left the note for Fry, luring him to a lonely spot before hanging him. A patrol happened to walk by so he was forced to leave the body there. Lea and Artemus stole Fry's heart for their ritual. After killing Ballinger, Landor mutilated his corpse to make it appear that the cadet had been murdered by the same "madman" who desecrated Fry's body.

Poe tells Landor he has two notes with handwriting samples that link Landor directly to the murders, but burns them instead. Landor later stands at the cliff where his daughter leapt to her death. He lets her hair ribbon float away in the wind, saying "Rest, my love".

Cast

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In addition, John Fetterman and Gisele Barreto Fetterman, then Lieutenant Governor and Second Lady of Pennsylvania, appear as a couple in an uncredited cameo.

Production

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In 2011, Scott Cooper signed on to write and direct an adaptation of Louis Bayard's novel of the same name for Fox 2000.[4]

A decade later, in early 2021, it was announced that Christian Bale would star in the film, to be produced by Cross Creek Pictures. It was to be Bale and Cooper's third film together, after Out of the Furnace and Hostiles. Bale and Cooper were also set to produce with John Lesher and Tyler Thompson.[5] Netflix acquired rights to the film for around US$55 million at the European Film Market.[6][7] In June 2021, it was reported that Harry Melling would co-star as Edgar Allan Poe.[8]

Filming began on November 29, 2021 at the historic Compass Inn in Laughlintown, Pennsylvania.[9] In December, filming took place at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.[10] That month, additional cast members were announced, including Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Timothy Spall, Fred Hechinger, and Robert Duvall.[11]

Sitting US Senator John Fetterman and his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman are extras in a scene in the film.[12] They became friendly with Bale and Cooper in 2013 while they were filming Out of the Furnace in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where Fetterman was mayor at the time. Bale stated, "John's got this fantastic face, hulking figure... So I said to Scott, 'We've got to have him in the tavern... That's a face that fits in the 1830s.'"[13]

Release

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The Pale Blue Eye was released in select cinemas on December 23, 2022, before its streaming release on January 6, 2023, by Netflix.[14]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 182 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Pale Blue Eye lacks its source material's piercing gaze, but this well-cast mystery is just intriguing enough to investigate."[15] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[16]

Matthew Monagle of The Austin Chronicle wrote, "The Pale Blue Eye holds together remarkably as a gothic piece of horror... right up to the point that it doesn't," and that it "seems to lose its nerve in its final minutes, when Cooper's script reverts to a procedural story and reshuffles our relationships to both main characters, relying too heavily on red herrings – and ugly tropes of sexual violence – to bring the narrative home. Indeed, the entire film damn near falls apart."[17]

James Verniere of the Boston Herald called it an "over-acted, badly written, murder mystery dud."[18] Peter Travers of ABC News wrote: "Even when the murderer kills again and characters start daubing their faces with blood and howling at the moon or whatever's handy, the film keeps circling its convoluted plot without finding a satisfying place to land."[19]

Accolades

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The film was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature at the 21st Visual Effects Society Awards.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "House of Jean Pepe - The Pale Blue Eye (2023)". www.fantrippers.com. January 18, 2023. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  2. ^ Kroll, Justin (May 18, 2023). "Paramount's 'Gladiator' Sequel Rounds Out Cast With 'Moon Knight' Breakout May Calamawy & Others; 'White Lotus' Actor Fred Hechinger In Talks For Emperor Geta Role; Barry Keoghan Exits". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  3. ^ Zee, Michaela (December 7, 2022). "'The Pale Blue Eye' Trailer: Christian Bale Teams With Edgar Allan Poe to Investigate a Grisly Murder in Netflix Thriller". Variety. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  4. ^ Sneider, Jeff (January 21, 2011). "Exclusive: 'Crazy Heart's' Scott Cooper to Direct 'The Pale Blue Eye'". The Wrap. The Wrap News, Inc. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  5. ^ Galuppo, Mia (February 26, 2021). "Christian Bale & Director Scott Cooper Re-Team On Cross Creek's 'The Pale Blue Eye' – EFM". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  6. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (March 6, 2021). "Netflix Strikes EFM Record $55M Worldwide Deal For Christian Bale Thriller 'The Pale Blue Eye'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  7. ^ Scott, Roxborough (March 6, 2021). "Berlin: Netflix Signs $55 Million Global Deal for 'The Pale Blue Eye'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  8. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 9, 2021). "'Queen's Gambit' Alum Harry Melling To Play Edgar Allan Poe Opposite Christian Bale in Scott Cooper's 'The Pale Blue Eye'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  9. ^ Axelrod, Joshua (December 2, 2021). "Christian Bale film 'The Pale Blue Eye' kicks off production at Compass Inn in Laurel Highlands". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  10. ^ Sirianni, Pete (December 9, 2021). "'Cool to see': Filming for Netflix movie starring Christian Bale transforms Westminster College campus". The Tribune-Democrat. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  11. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 1, 2021). "Scott Cooper's Netflix Pic 'The Pale Blue Eye' Adds Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Timothy Spall, Fred Hechinger, Robert Duvall & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  12. ^ Adragna, Anthony (December 9, 2022). "John Fetterman has a cameo in an upcoming Christian Bale movie". Politico. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  13. ^ Tornoe, Rob (December 12, 2022). "John Fetterman is in a new Netflix crime drama starring Christian Bale". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  14. ^ Malhotra, Rahul (August 30, 2022). "'The Pale Blue Eye' Introduces Christian Bale's Grizzled Look in Eerie First Image". Collider. Archived from the original on November 6, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  15. ^ "The Pale Blue Eye". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 15, 2023. Edit this at Wikidata
  16. ^ "The Pale Blue Eye". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  17. ^ Monagle, Matthew (December 23, 2022). "The Pale Blue Eye - Movie Review". The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  18. ^ Verniere, James (December 22, 2022). "'The Pale Blue Eye' spies a badly written mystery flop". Boston Herald. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  19. ^ Travers, Peter (January 6, 2023). "Review: 'The Pale Blue Eye' circles its convoluted plot without finding a satisfying place to land". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  20. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (January 17, 2023). "Avatar: The Way of Water Leads Visual Effects Society Awards Nominations". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
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