The Pale Blue Eye

The Pale Blue Eye

2022-12-22 2h 8m R
Thriller Crime Horror Mystery
6.8
User Score
1945 votes

"Every heart tells a tale."

Overview

West Point, New York, 1830. When a cadet at the burgeoning military academy is found hanged with his heart cut out, the top brass summons former New York City constable Augustus Landor to investigate. While attempting to solve this grisly mystery, the reluctant detective engages the help of one of the cadets: a strange but brilliant young fellow by the name of Edgar Allan Poe.

Scott Cooper

Director

Scott Cooper

Writer

Top Billed Cast

Movie Details

Status

Released

Original Language

en

Budget

$72,000,000

Revenue

$N/A

Runtime

2h 8m

Release Date

2022-12-22

Recommendations

Reviews

Nathan

Nathan

2023-02-01T18:07:25.484Z

The Pale Blue Eye had great performances, fantastic cinematography, and a decent story but fails in terms of pacing and a bloated runtime that did not feel warranted. Christian Bale is fantastic in this role. He is incredibly intense, being able to capture the seriousness of his detective work balanced with the emotions of his unfortunate tragedies in life. A performance of this caliber is expected of Bale, but what was a surprise is the standout performance of Harry Melling. Melling was whimsical and tad odd with his portrayal of the famous Edgar Allen Poe. He legitimately stole every scene he was, including the ones with Bale. The film was quite long and drawn out. The beginning act did fine as the audience is still learning the world and the crimes committed. But after that wears off it begins to drag going into a climatic third act. A lot of this bloat could have been cut down to create a better viewing experience. That being said, I did enjoy the story of this film. It was engaging and had some twists that I think worked pretty well, although the ending did leave me with a few questions. Score: 61% Verdict: Decent