On first viewing, Scott Cooper’s film The light blue eyewhich premiered worldwide on January 6 via Netflix, seems to evoke cinematic elements from the frozen terrains of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant and Debra Granik’s vast forests Winter flounder. As Iñárritu’s 2016 Academy Award winner, The light blue eyebased on author Louis Bayard’s best-selling 2003 novel, is a tale of painstakingly devious retaliation.
Starring a young Edgar Allan Poe in a reimagined entity (a common theme in several of Bayard’s other writings—the recreation of historical fact), Cooper’s dramatic thriller is often a hauntingly gripping murder mystery suggestively multi-layered. Yes, the addition of Poe (played quite skillfully by Harry Melling from Harry Potter and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) certainly gives the film an air of intrigue, and Christian Bale, who often works with Cooper, is usually great, here he plays protagonist Detective Gus Landor. However, the critical translation of the brand spanking new Netflix original was, well, weakly turned out… Why were critics so divided over such a highly anticipated new film?
What is the light blue eye?
Against the backdrop of 19th century New York, The light blue eye draws current affairs from the esteemed author and poet, Poe’s early life, before his name had such a famous literary influence. The film documents his time at the West Point military academy and the fictional gruesome murders of hanged soldiers with their entrails brutally gouged out.
Recruited by the Academy’s officers, seasoned crime solver Augustus Landor (Christian Bale), with his shaggy beard and cunning experience, must uncover the grim atrocities that have taken place around the military base. With the help of a youthful Edgar Allan Poe, who is presented by a vivacious, exquisite Harry Melling (who also bears a truly uncanny resemblance to the poetic mastermind), the pair form an unlikely murderous double act.
Christian Bale’s portrayal of Detective Landor
Christian Bale has proven himself over a career spanning 35 years as an actor with both remarkable longevity and almost unbridled acting talent. From kingdom of the sun to his decorated role as a hooded crusader, he slips in and out of roles so effortlessly, but his portrayal of Detective Gus Landor in The light blue eyemay represent a bit of an anomaly, a blotch on its previously pristine, spotless landscape…at least to the pale blue eyes of film critics.
Perhaps it was Scott Cooper’s screenwriter doing Bale’s acting prowess a disservice through an underwritten, underdeveloped and frankly rather uninteresting character. Or maybe it’s just down to Bale himself delivering a below par, deviant performance as the widowed investigator. For whatever reason, critics haven’t held back from addressing his apparent lack of personality.
Comparisons, right or wrong, have naturally drawn to the likes of Benoit Blanc and Branagh’s Hercule Poirot, both of whom exude that colorful glow and flamboyance, even if they sometimes fall into caricatures. Bale’s Landor has been accused of not having a particularly distinctive investigative attitude, and at times he feels he’s almost lost his way in that criterion. Despite his supposed talent for solving macabre crimes, Landor never seems to have much of a penchant for it. He does not have any refined style and does not have the rigor of Holmes or Blanc’s ability to observe and perceive.
The supposed lifelessness and lack of spark of the pale blue eye
As you’d probably expect from a murder mystery, lifelessness is in its nature, but in this case it’s not the murderous kind that undermines the image of its life-giving potential. The light blue eye has received much criticism for the pacing and disappointing conviction in which it delivers its story. It’s undeniably a slow-burner, and there’s rarely a palpable sense of urgency to solve these heinous crimes, though the reason for that lack of urgency eventually becomes apparent.
Due to the stop-start-start-stop pacing, the doubts expressed publicly are understandable, but while the movie seems visibly labored, with even the most pertinent scenes fizzing or in some cases burning out, there’s an uncharacteristic flaw that really puts it at risk . The stakes just don’t come across with any visceral importance. Plus, a decent movie has already been made in the past year where Edgar Allan Poe finds himself in the middle of a dark, dramatic mystery – Raven’s Hollow.
Overall, the negative reviews of Cooper’s latest production are a harsh indictment of a screenplay that is neither extraordinarily exciting nor profoundly bleak. It’s not an award-winning whodunit or transforming the traditional murder mystery, but it’s a stunningly shot piece of filmmaking, with cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi capturing New York’s Hudson Valley in all its snow-white, wintry gloom. Like the film, Bale also doesn’t deserve all the critical acclaim he’s received, but it’s certainly not his best showing. His performance as a tired, circumstance-weary veteran detective still inspires an air of subdued admiration, even if The light blue eye is almost as tired as he is.