I haven't yet read the Margaret Atwood novel that loosely inspired this CBC movie, so it doesn't terribly bother me that it's been somehow been converted into a detective thriller. But did they have to make the detective -that- guy?
(Spoilers start here, although they won't spoil things very much if you know anything about this movie at all)
So, seriously, we learn early on that the apparently-murdered Zenia was a sociopathic liar and predator. And the modern viewer will only be put on their guard by the line that "she must absolutely be dead, we found three pints of blood!" (This dodge has been used more than once since 2007, in culture and also in real life.)
What will surprise you is that this detective, a former cop, mind you, who already has a good picture of Zenia's lying manipulativeness, pretty much immediately upon having the opportunity allows himself to get seduced by said lies and manipulations, temporarily abandoning in murderer's jail the supposed friend who brought him into the case. I know guys are stupid in real life and even stupider in movies, but this is just painful to watch.
(Yes, I noticed that they threw in a little bit about "well, he got thrown off the force for covering up for a drug-using woman partner, so it's in character, he's just that kind of guy." Sorry, that doesn't impress me.)
That's why I'm spoiling this so much. I really don't want to you go to the trouble of finding this movie and then suffering. There are plenty of other women sociopaths in the movies and on TV these days. You don't need to settle for this.
Also, the movie then gets a little self-conscious about abandoning its literary-fiction roots and finishes up with a kind of Rashomon ending where you don't know what really happened and don't really care. That's about it. The acting and production are decent, but nobody can build on the marshy foundation of this screenplay.
(Spoilers start here, although they won't spoil things very much if you know anything about this movie at all)
So, seriously, we learn early on that the apparently-murdered Zenia was a sociopathic liar and predator. And the modern viewer will only be put on their guard by the line that "she must absolutely be dead, we found three pints of blood!" (This dodge has been used more than once since 2007, in culture and also in real life.)
What will surprise you is that this detective, a former cop, mind you, who already has a good picture of Zenia's lying manipulativeness, pretty much immediately upon having the opportunity allows himself to get seduced by said lies and manipulations, temporarily abandoning in murderer's jail the supposed friend who brought him into the case. I know guys are stupid in real life and even stupider in movies, but this is just painful to watch.
(Yes, I noticed that they threw in a little bit about "well, he got thrown off the force for covering up for a drug-using woman partner, so it's in character, he's just that kind of guy." Sorry, that doesn't impress me.)
That's why I'm spoiling this so much. I really don't want to you go to the trouble of finding this movie and then suffering. There are plenty of other women sociopaths in the movies and on TV these days. You don't need to settle for this.
Also, the movie then gets a little self-conscious about abandoning its literary-fiction roots and finishes up with a kind of Rashomon ending where you don't know what really happened and don't really care. That's about it. The acting and production are decent, but nobody can build on the marshy foundation of this screenplay.