Solace (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – A psychic works with the FBI in order to hunt down a serial killer.

My Take – There was time when a film starring Anthony Hopkings (Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal) would be on the must watch list. But alas like many other great actors its time to see this Oscar Winning actor stumble down to doing generic run of the mill kind of films. This supernatural thriller had apparently been stuck in the shelf for about two years (I guess that explains a lot). Usually this signals embarrassment on the part of all concerned party involved in the film, as a result it doesn’t come as a surprise to see the film get dumped online & release in some selected cinemas. Still unseen by US audience, this Afonso Poyart’s oddball thriller has nevertheless slid into the U.A.E cinemas. Keeping the supernatural element aside, this film was once a sequel to the brilliant Se7en (1995) that would have seen Morgan Freeman’s character Detective Somerset inexplicably develop unknown (or consciously repressed) clairvoyant abilities, the script has fortunately been retooled and now comes in the form of a very generic and clichéd serial killer chase. The premise boasts interesting ideas but fails to incorporate them in the plot in any way that gives the movie depth. The film manages to be simultaneously ludicrous and boring, coming across as a bunch of particularly tired clichés from other serial killer movies copied and pasted together, and the script is lackluster and predictable, to the extent that I actually found myself rolling my eyes every few minutes. I love serial killer based films and honestly thought this was a good premise, but the film played out as a rather predictable, and derivative, by the numbers story. What also works against the film other than the poor screenplay is low budget production values, which comes as a surprise as the film as the being co produced by Anthony Hopkins himself.

The story follows FBI agents Agent Joe Merriweather (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Agent Katherine Cowles (Abbie Cornish) who are on a hunt of serial killer (Colin Farrell) who leaves little to no evidence after his killings. In order to catch him, agent Joe decides to enlist the help of an ex FBI consultant John Clancy (Anthony Hopkins), a psychic who is still grieving from the loss of his daughter to cancer. Reluctant at first, Clancy agrees to help them out when he realizes the killer also has his similiar abilities. As said, the interesting opening premise, sadly does not live up to it’s promise. The film does raise an interesting moral question but it never answers it. The subject-matter actually leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. Director Afonso Poyart must take the blame for this badly filmed movie. There are car-chases with takes so fast that they are like a blur, and as a viewer I had no real idea what was happening. Is it really necessary to film a simple kitchen conversation between Hopkins and Abbie Cornish, using a handheld camera? Should we feel irritated watching a conversation between two characters? But if you’re thinking about how great a steady cam would have been, you’re not concentrating on the dialogue, which makes us uncomfortable for the most part. Only Hopkins’ aloof, authoritative and monotone delivery lends his scenes any gravitas. One repeated shot of a coffee cup falling to the floor in dramatic slow mo is particularly laughable. The worst visual sequences, however, are Clancy’s physic visions. These are clearly meant to be visually striking and profound, with bright lights and bloodied faces intermingled with the repeated image of Colin Farrell’s killer standing before a neon cross, arms outstretched in a transparently Christ-like gesture. Unsurprisingly, these sequences are more irritating than striking. Vacuous and overly polished, they play out like a weirdly gory car ad. Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin’s script is somewhat deficient in the internal logic and plausibility department, and it seems this where director Poyart has attempted to paper over the cracks with his artsy film school style of direction. Another mistake the makers have done, one of the main reason why Se7en succeeded, is that they have revealed the identity of the killer all over the trailers & the promotional materials.

Colin Farrell appears in the last 25-35 minutes of the film in a much anticipated showdown with Hopkins. They share their ideas, thoughts and ideologies, but at the end, agree to disagree. There’s a few religious references in the film as Farrell‘s character borders playing God. There’s some logic to his murders but it’s up to everyone’s interpretation. If Hopkins could see everything Farrell was seeing, why not just alter every move he was going to make? Plus we never fully understand how Farrell could have met or indeed have had anything to do with the people he chooses, so are left scratching our heads. Considering its impressive cast, you would expect that at least the performances would be good. Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Colin Farrell and Abbie Cornish have all proved, the former especially, that they have the ability to carry themselves in a blockbuster – though this film would hardly even qualify as such. Hopkins phones in a performance with small highlights few and far between. It was an odd decision to recycle so many of Lecter’s facial expressions when playing a protagonist and occasionally Clancy comes across as slightly creepy because of it. Joe keeps reminding him that it was Clancy’s smile that made the psychic’s wife fall in love with him, which seems unlikely considering that it’s more of a terrifying grin. Jeffrey Dean Morgan gives a slightly better performance, in that at least his character is reasonably likeable. Abbie Cornish sadly draws the shortest straw among the character development and as a result comes out aloof & unlikable. This is a huge issue, considering that making sure the audience cares about Katherine is vital to the film’s ending, and I found myself completely indifferent towards her. The only good thing about the film is Colin Farrell, and sadly I’m using “good” to mean “good compared to everything else in this not so good film”. Farrell’s performance is helped by the actor’s trademark unblinking, black-eyed stare, and, mercifully, the film becomes livelier after he makes an appearance. On the whole, ‘Solace’ previously known as Premonitions is letdown due to its poor script & clumsily paced story. A few tweaks here and this could’ve made an excellent psychological thriller.