A Kind of Murder (2016)

I have weighted the film on the lower side of 5 out of 10 for the abysmal ending. As with most movie buffs, we hate to get sucked into a somewhat film noir with plenty of mystery in the early going, only to have the film end rather abruptly without proper closure.

Patrick Wilson who plays Walter Stackhouse, an architect/storyteller/amateur detective is superb in his role. Kudos also to the wardrobe department for their excellent choice for their 1950's period dressage. I also liked the performances by Jessica Biel and Eddie Marsan.

I would try to explain my disappointment by likening it to the purchase of a double scoop of my favorite ice cream placed in a sugar cone only to have taken my first bite and find out the ice cream was sorbet and the sugar cone was actually cardboard. If you can picture that scenario, then that is what I felt I watched with "A Kind of Murder", more like "A Kind of a Let Down"

Fmovies: Leave it to Patricia Highsmith to come up with implausible plots that somehow seem so possible. Based on her novel THE BLUNDERER, Susan Boyd has adapted this complex novel for the screen and Andy Goddard directs.

Walter Stackhouse (Patrick Wilson) is a rich, successful architect/writer unhappily married to the beautiful but mentally damaged Clara (Jessica Biel). His desire to be free of her feeds his obsession with Kimmel (Eddie Marsan), a man suspected of brutally murdering his own wife outside the Rainbow Grill, a bus/truck stop out on the road. But when Clara is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Walter's string of lies and his own guilty thoughts (he has become involved with a young singer Ellie – played well by Haley Bennett) seem enough to condemn him. As his life becomes dangerously entwined with Kimmel's, a ruthless cop, Detective Corby (Vincent Kartheiser) is increasingly convinced he has found a copycat killer in Walter and aims to nail both murderers. The denouement stops a bit cold and the last portion of the story seems more than slightly implausible, but the turns the story takes make it a very classy thriller.

Another aspect of the film that works well is the sets and costumes (vintage cars, crinolines, excessive smoking, etc) that clearly place this film in the 1960s. Even the selection of music by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans enhances the atmosphere. The fittingly dark atmosphere is well established by cinematographer by Chris Seager. For pure noir thriller in the vein of Patricia Highsmith's plot development this is a strong film that could be stronger with some significant editing.

This film tells the story of a successful writer, who is married to a beautiful wife. His wife is unfortunately intensely jealous, and their marriage is in jeopardy. When his wife is found dead, a detective relentlessly tries to prove that he is the murderer.

"A Kind of Murder" starts off engaging, as the wife is really beautiful. Jessica Biel's hairstyle is very elegant and elaborate, highlighting her status as a rich wife and successful designer. However, her attitude towards her husband is cold and unsupportive, making me feel very sorry for the husband. After the mysterious circumstances occurred, the story unfortunately goes downhill. The detective keeps on jumping to illogical and unsubstantiated conclusions, and his dedication towards the case is seriously misplaced. The involvement of the bookstore owner just doesn't make sense either. The ending creates confusion rather than suspense and thrill, which is a pity.

A Kind of Murder fmovies. Patrick Wilson is a two-time Tony Award winner who bears, at certain angles, a resemblance to Paul Newman. He has enjoyed a very good career. But if he doesn't stay away from films like this, I fear for him.

"A Kind of Murder" takes place in 1960 and actually begins in a movie theater where "Butterfield 8" is being shown. A Chevrolet commercial can be heard from the screen; I'm not familiar enough with the film to say it took place in the movie, nor am I aware of commercials being shown in theaters, but I found it odd.

The story concerns two men, architect and some time writer Walter Stackhouse (Wilson) and a bookstore owner, Marty Kimmel (Eddie Marsan). Kimmel's wife is murdered and found near a tavern, and an aggressive cop, Laurence Corby (Vincent Kartheiser) is positive Kimmel is the killer. However, a young man has given him an alibi - he and Kimmel were both in the theater to see Butterfield 8 at the same time.

Then Walter's wife Clara (Jessica Biel), a beautiful but deeply disturbed and unhappy woman, winds up dead in the same location. Both women had taken the same bus, which stopped near the tavern. Walter, tired of Clara being neurotic, had told her he wanted a divorce. She threatened suicide, then left abruptly to be with her sick mother.

Detective Corby harasses both men mercilessly, and when he finds out that Stackhouse has clippings of the Kimmel murder as a resource for the writing he does on the side, he doubles up the harassment.

I'm not sure why this was set in 1960 except that it was based on a Patricia Highsmith novel probably written then. I wonder if the screenwriter (or Highsmith) realized that the Fourth Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1790 so that Corby could not have walked into Stackhouse's home and started going through his house without a warrant. And what idiots allow such harassment and never retain an attorney?

The film had some atmosphere but was slow and dull. It took forever to get to the plot. Now, modern screen writing demands this. I have no problem waiting for the point of the movie if the film is moving along. This one didn't.

Patricia Highsmith was a wonderful mystery writer, but she wasn't perfect. I haven't read her novel but somehow I feel it had to have been better than this.

I've become a real fan of Patrick Wilson in recent years. He's put his name to a lot of quality movies. Sadly, this is not of them. There was an idea that could have worked somewhere in the mix here, but it just got bogged down under an immensely boring story. The period the film is set in, the characters and the bland dialogue all do nothing more than put you to sleep.

The film does pick up the pace a touch in the final third, but by then it's too late. Most have already switched off and those that haven't no longer care. The mystery side of things is poorly conceived as well. Thing's that we are meant to be curious about we already know the answer to, and things that we might genuinely care to know are never answered.

'A Kind of Murder' is a very bleak experience that achieves nothing it sets out to. How a film with the word "murder" in the title can ever turn out quite so boring I'm not sure, but this one manages it. Nothing to see here, watch some of Wilson's other fantastic work from previous years instead.

"I'd say he did it. I've worked it out." After an unsolved murder rocks a small town, Walter Stackhouse (Wilson) becomes fascinated by it and starts to do his own investigation. He is also struggling in his marriage to Clara (Biel) and she is becoming suspicious of what he is doing in his free time. After Clara is found dead Walter becomes a suspect himself and his whole life begins to unravel. This is a movie that tried everything it could to be tense and noir-like, but it never quite got there. It was a little generic and for me it was just really a struggle to get into. The acting is OK but there was just something about this movie that didn't seem to click with me. There was enough twists to make it somewhat interesting, but really just hard to connect with. Overall, a movie that tried everything it could to be tense and almost DePalma like, but failed. I give this a C+.