Dark Places (2015)

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1. 

   Astragalus

   First of all about the age thing; as far as i remember nobody said Libby (Charlize Theron) is 30 "today" in the movie. She, herself as the narrator, says she was 8 when the murders happened, and she herself says the 30th anniversary of the murders is aproaching while speaking to her manager (or whatever he is) in the restaurant. So why would they make a mistake about her age? She should be around 36 today and Charlize, although 41 in real life, looks around that age, nothing's wrong. About Ben's daughter; her age today was never mentioned in the movie; yes, she's supposed to be around 27 and the actress playing the part looks a little bit younger (around 23-24 imo) but that's all, it's not like she's a child or teenager, people look younger sometimes. Maybe the actress is really around 27. So, nothing's wrong there either. Did i miss anything?
   
   About the movie; it's a solid but really slow paced crime drama with a little pinch of thriller elements. So, if you are looking for some action or serious excitement it's definetely not your thing. But if you happen to like really slow, moody, psychological and long-ish crime dramas, then give it a try, you could like it. The script is good but nothing too shocking or revolutionary. Although figuring out what really happened that night is driving the plot, the movie is mainly about how it affected the characters, which it satisfies to deliver. So, the mystery is the sauce, not the main dish. The acting is totally accomplished from a good cast except one or two minor roles. The atmosphere is fairly gripping with a dark-oriented cinematography, consistent with the title. The two-way editing using 30 years apart timelines work well enough but could be better with better connections. The one flaw is; especially at the beginning, it sometimes gets a little bit confusing as there are many names, and a bunch of characters that you see in different timelines but nothing you can't settle if you keep going focused. It's generally far from being a masterpiece but definetely worth seeing for the admirers of the spesific type of movie. 7/10 8 years 1 month ago
2. 

   Siskoid

   In Dark Places, Charlize Theron plays a woman whose entire family was killed in a now-famous massacre back in 1985; her brother is serving a life sentence for the crime. Today, this broken person starts to piece things together, prodded by a club of True Crime aficionados and amateur detectives. And it's fine. Good performances, a complex mystery... But Dark Places doesn't know how to juggle the present and the past, to its detriment. While Theron's Libby Day is searching for answers, we go back to 1985 where it plays out, except we're omniscient in those moments, at the mercy of neither accounts, nor information discovered. The effect is that we know more than Libby, and then have to sit through her catching up. It's not that there's no suspense, but it's always on shaky ground. And ultimately, the solution is so convoluted and dependent on improbable coincidence that it cancels willing suspension of disbelief. It's kind of sadly ridiculous. 4 years 2 months ago
3. 

   dippygirl78

   I didn't like this film but then I didn't like the book either. Yes the ages of the characters not adding up is distracting there is no denying it. Perhaps if it was a better film we would be able to look past it. 4 years 10 months ago

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