DARK CRIMES (2016) - Movie Review

Director: Alexandros Avranas
Starring: Jim Carrey, Marton Csokas, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vlad IVanov
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Writer: Jeremy Brock
Runtime: 92 min
Rated: R for strong and disturbing violent/sexual content including rape, graphic nudity, and language
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

A hard-boiled detective becomes suspicious of an author when the incidents described in his hit novel resemble the inner-workings of an unsolved murder.

Review:

Based on a 2008 article by David Grann titled "True Crime: A Postmodern Murder Mystery", "Dark Crimes" finds Jim Carrey gunning for that elusive Oscar, but getting lost in the meandering plot of a subpar crime drama.

This grim and coldly photographed movie deals with issues pertaining to sex trafficking, moral corruption, and the dark corners of our minds. It's supposed to be gritty and relentless, but the problem is that simply relishing in the seedy undergrounds of humanity is not enough for a movie to be good. You also need characters you can understand and sympathize with, and a story that grabs you and doesn't let go until the very end, and this movie has neither. In made me think of the Nicolas Cage thriller "8mm", and how that movie, despite being flawed, avoided the mistakes this movie makes.

Jim Carrey is not as bad as I thought he would be, but his character is so unbeliavably poorly written, it gives him nothing to work with. Most of the time he just stands there with a blank expression on his face for reasons that I couldn't understand, because the filmmakers were so bad at communicating things to the audience. The repressed nature of his character remains a mystery throughout, with nothing to make him stand out or help us understand his motivations. His accent is another mystery I couldn't solve, constantly changing throughout the movie, most likely due to extensive reshoots.

Marton Csokas and Charlotte Gainsbourg are fantastic, though. Their characters are also badly conceived, but they do at least play up the intensity and make them feel like real human beings.

"Dark Crimes" fails at almost every aspect of filmmaking. I don't think this movie is very easy to find these days, but if you do happen to come across it, give it a wide berth.

SCORE: 3/10