SECRET IN THEIR EYES (Billy Ray). 110 minutes. Opens Friday (November 20). See listings. Rating: NNN
Where to watch: iTunes
Billy Ray’s remake of the 2009 Academy Award-winning foreign-language film from Argentina pales in comparison to the original. But it’s still a solid film with an excellent cast.
Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as a former L.A. cop haunted by a rape/murder he couldn’t solve who, 13 years after the fact, thinks he’s found a lead. When he reappears in the lives of the mother of the victim, herself an officer (Julia Roberts), and another key investigator (Nicole Kidman), he has to convince them to reopen the case.
As an adaptation, the film has some deft moments. Whereas in the original, corrupt officers thwart the initial investigation, this time out terror experts – the case opens just after 9/11 – see a rapist/murderer as chump change compared to al Qaeda. However, the attempt to recreate the spectacular chase at a soccer match, this time at a ball game in Dodger Stadium, falls flat.
The cast is uniformly excellent, especially a very unglamorous Roberts. But the remake can’t reproduce the prior film’s melancholic tone. Do yourself a favour and seek out the 2009 Oscar winner.
