A Plot in the Dark

Rating: 1/10 (23 April 2009)

Why did I watch this movie? To observe the performance of the late Heath Ledger. It was not a disappointment but, like other reviewers, I think it was not one in a league with, say, John Huston in "Chinatown" or Bogart in "The Treasure of Sierra Madre". It was more akin to Edward G. Robinson in "Key Largo", not shabby, entertaining in a movie which is really not memorable at all. The noise of it would have been unbearable in a movie theater but I saw it at home and could control the sound level and fast-forward. I've only seen a handful of movies that shouldn't have been over in ninety minutes and this one really didn't even have that much content. The dialog seemed to have been pieced together from the dead bodies of older scripts. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman grace any film by their acting abilities but I kept waiting for Christian Bale to say, "Go on. Make my day". Monique Curnan was notable in her supporting role. The rest of the major players seemed to be phoning it in.