You’d think I would have at least recognized the title. Nope. Wonder how many other pictures I can “already see,” before cluing in that it’s the same film. This one took me over an hour. Stunning amount of recall at my disposal, I tells ya. Nothing gets by me … after the first hour/hour-and-a-half … maybe.
Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has been scanning the national prison registry every night for thirteen years. I can’t tell if this is obsession or crappy police work. I’m going to go with the latter, but seriously, listen to the details – thirteen years ago, Ray, Jess (Julia Roberts) and Claire (Nicole Kidman) all worked L.A.P.D. Vice. Ray was actually employed by the F.B.I. and there on some sort of abuse exchange program, I guess. In the post 9/11 world, the focus on terrorism trumped all other concerns, which explains the F.B.I. loaning agents to El Lay. And when single mother Jess’ only daughter is found in a dumpster behind a mosque, the questions begin with religion rather than procedure.
Secret in Their Eyes jumps in time with almost every new scene so as to elaborate upon a given point of view. Ray, like perhaps millions of us, has been into Nicole Kidman from the moment he first lays eyes on her. So, in the present-past, he alternates his time between uncomfortably hitting on Claire and finding the murderer. And wouldn’t ya know it? The murderer turns out to be this douche who shows up at the office picnic. The paper trail leading to said conclusion is razor thin, by the way. It bugged me how little effort was put into making a solid case against this guy.
And then, get this – funny story – that murdering douche? He’s a mosque snitch! And being labeled a guy who may well prevent the next 9/11, he’s pretty much immune from every crime south of terrorism. OK, that story isn’t funny at all; it’s horribly depressing … and it ruins everybody. Thirteen years in the future, every soul in El Lay who lived through it is scarred. Ray, Jess, Claire, Randy Newman, Vin Scully, everybody.
So when Ray shows up thirteen years later claiming he’s found this guy in the prison registry he’s been poring over, well, it’s hard to take that as good news. Obsession is at the core of Secret in Their Eyes. Obsession fueled by pain, by injustice. This is a
film about what people do when they can’t get past the past. And there are secrets to tell. Ugly, horrible secrets.
Julia Roberts looks bad in this film. Skeletal, drab, washed out, awful hair bad. Now I know this is by design – she’s supposed to look like a person who has been deprived of her reason for being, but still. It’s Julia Roberts. When has she not looked adorable? Kudos, Ms. Roberts. Kudos. Looking the part is half the sell. And, given the mood of the picture, the last thing you want is a Victoria’s Secret in Their Eyes, and yet … kinda shocking to see Julia look like the rest of us.
Secret in Their Eyes is a remake of the Argentinian film El secreto de sus ojos which won the 2009 Oscar for best foreign film. This Secret differs not one iota in plot, pacing, theme, or tenor – if I recall correctly, and there’s a very good chance I’m not. And had I remembered the original before I set to watch, I might have held that against it. Maybe this one can win the Argentinian Academy for Best Foreign Film.
♪Blood, I get so lost in ‘venge
Days pass and this registry fills my screen
When I want that hot D.A.
I drive her way too far
And whichever path I choose
My soul begins to char
And all my warrants, as yet unearned
No judge for guilt, nor jury to adjourn
Without the poise and without my grace
It’s thrown way back in my face
In their eyes
The pain. The grief.
In their eyes
Ain’t no relief.
In their eyes
I see the doorway to the underworld
In their eyes
Immense evil as yet unfurled
In their eyes
I see blight, defeat
In their eyes♫
Rated PG-13, 111 Minutes
D: Billy Ray
W: Billy Ray
Genre: Disposable existences
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Obsessed people
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The obsessed intolerant
♪ Parody inspired by “In Your Eyes”
