Recently watched Grant Singer’s crime thriller ‘Reptile.’ Released in September of last year, it’s cast includes Benicio Del Toro, Alicia Silverstone, and Justin Timberlake among others. If I have to write a one-word review, it would be- ‘underwhelming.’
“Spoilers Ahead”
The film follows Tom Nichols (Del Toro) solving the case of Summer Elswick (Matilda Lutz), a real estate agent who was murdered in the bedroom of one of her listings. She was discovered by her boyfriend and fellow agent, Will Grady (Timberlake). One of the stab wounds was so deep that the weapon got jammed in her pelvis. Nichols and his partner Cleary are assigned the case. Nichols has recently moved into the town with Judy (Silverstone), his fearless wife who proves as good as any other cop in her husband’s investigations. Silverstone’s character is strong and a fresh break from the conventional detective wives. Her uncle, Robert Allen is the police captain.
The sheer brutality and heinous nature of the crime suggested it to be the work of a raging psycho killer. A crime of passion by someone who bore an intense hatred for Summer. But it was rather a perfectly thought out, formulaic and calculated plan of action.
The film has no shortage of suspects. First is Will Grady, her boyfriend who found her. Her shady estranged husband, Sam Gifford, who she was still seeing behind Will’s back doesn’t look so clean either. And then there is Eli, whose father committed suicide because the Grady family forcefully bought his farm.
Will is so obvious on the line of suspicion that it seldom falls upon him. The film reveals the killer and at the same time does not. We are left hanging in the middle. Will is supposedly shown to be the killer, but we don’t actually see him do anything except standing over Summer as she is having her last sighs. He was definitely the one who orchestrated it all but who actually killed her, still remains a mystery.
Half the subplots remain unresolved. What was the deal with the paint on Summer’s hands? Who left the bite marks on her? Where did that snakeskin come from? Why was the Chrysler imperial in Allen’s house, a direct link to the crime?
What happened to Eli? He was not only perfectly harmless but he actually solved the murder before the police. After handing over the evidence to Tom, he is visited by Will and someone he says Eli has met before. We don’t learn the identity of the person. It could have been the chief of police or Cleary. All we see is the empty bottle of bleach in his house. His fate is left ambiguous on purpose.
The film makes you feel like you have missed on important, crucial details. You keep hoping there is something much bigger that is yet to happen, but nothing happens. It moves slowly but at enough pace so you don’t lose interest. I expected it to be much darker, gruesome and messy but the murder was only a part of a much bigger cover-up of drug money laundering in which the cops and even the chief of police is involved.
What’s up with the title? Where is the reptile? Apart from a three-second shot of a snakeskin, there are no actual reptiles in the movie? It’s a metaphor. As the movie progresses, every character develops a new skin and sheds the old one. The true nature of everyone is eventually revealed. Summer found the snakeskin just before she was murdered. Will Grady had revealed his true face that night.
The motive was that Will and his family were running a scam that involved buying houses that were seized by government for drug possession at lower rates and then selling them off. Summer was starting to get uncomfortable with it and was going to expose it all to the authorities.
The movie is too obsessed with details. A film that didn’t know what to do with itself. It keeps you off balance. Crime thrillers should get tighter as they progress, but this one keeps unravelling. It keeps you engaged but you are not convinced. When the film revels the culprit, it has already become obvious.
The best part about the film was the actor’s performance. Del Toro has interesting chemistry with Silverstone. Tom comes across as a well-rounded character, someone who has life outside of police work. He hits the dance floor with Judy and has obsession with sleek, high-tech faucets that he wants installed in his kitchen. He feels jealous of the contractor flirting with his wife and firmly makes him aware of that, almost on the point of threatening. He is not afraid to directly look at the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it is.
The recurring ominous music in the background creates thrilling sensations but fails to achieve the desired result.
A wanna-be aesthetic crime thriller but only a pretty basic story of corruption and greed in urban era. It is lethargic and excessively moody and undercooked mystery.
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