An intelligent, gripping drama, filmed with crisp efficiency

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2015)

A very solid, thoughtful and stylish outing from made with great precision that is becoming a hallmark of David Fincher. His interest in 'films that scar' continues, and while this film doesn't top quite the heights of the remarkable Se7en, it is still a very worthy achievement, thanks to a trenchant yet subtle performance from Michael Douglas. The script is solid, but it is really the effective partnership between Douglas and Fincher, as well as great supporting acting turns from Sean Penn, James Rebhorn and Debra Kara Unger, which really helps ground this slow burning but always engrossing psychological thriller. You have to pay attention, but as the plot twists and turns it does work its way to a satisfying if surprisingly climax (especially for a director of Fincher's background) you'll enjoy the way that Douglas's Nicholas Van Orton character is stripped of his layers of reserve and control as the character is cleverly placed in one crisis after another.
Technical credits are as usual very polished – production design and Haris Savidies's photography stand out, but its Howard Shore's minimalist score that really enhances the mood of the film brilliantly. While the score has some of the dark overtones of Se7en, it is not as dark as that movie but still works very well to make the viewer fell unsettled – in particular the use of a sole piano is extremely effective in certain scenes. To cap it all it is slickly edited and comes together with a crisp efficiency. Overall another film that firmly cements David Fincher's reputation as an extremely talented and uncompromising film-maker.