Shadows on the Wall | The Girl in the River

The Girl in the River

dir-scr Brando Benetton
prd Andrew Stevens, Joe Lemmon, Rick Moore
with Maggie Grace, Devon Sawa, Tiffany Haddish, Ralph Macchio, Andrew Stevens, Angelena Swords, David Moncrief, Darron Dunbar, Sarah Murphree, Sam Brooks, Frank Kyazze, Lucy Blair
release US 4.Sep.26
26/US Samuel Goldwyn 1h32

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Assembled from pretty much every procedural cliche imaginable, this crime thriller features camerawork, dialog and music that almost make this a spoof. But writer-director Brando Benetton is taking this very seriously indeed. Efforts to crank up the suspense include some extra-grisly details and lightweight action. That said, the whodunit genre always has the power to pull us into a convoluted mystery, even one as mindless as this.

In peaceful small-town Mississippi, book-savvy forensic expert Amelia (Grace) is nervous about her first case in the field, assigned by Captain Erika (Haddish) to work with jaded investigator Alan (Sawa). They are trying to solve the perplexing murder of the 14-year-old daughter of a senator (Stevens). Her body was found in the river, seemingly placed deliberately, and her twin sister is still missing. Amelia and Alan are assisted by local cop Hank (Moncrief) and medical examiner Colin (Macchio). Amelia's chief suspect is the local butcher (Dunbar), but there's no evidence that will convict him.

Curiously, there's actually too much evidence lying around, suggesting a wide range of possibilities, as if the killer is trying to throw the police off. There's also a suspicious journalist (Murphree) who seems to know too much. And Amelia is also implausibly reckless, stubbornly pushing her own narrative, unlike a genius investigator would do. So where the story goes feels almost accidental, leading to the expected surprise revelation and a tense unfolding climax.

There isn't much any actor could do with dialog this simplistic, but at least this cast tries to add interest between the lines. Sawa is the standout as the haunted Alan, a smart man who is good at his job but doesn't want to do it anymore. Grace has some steely edge as the confident Amelia, who stands up to him whenever she needs to. Both Haddish and Macchio struggle in oddly thankless roles.

This feels like a movie written by someone who watches rather too many television crime dramas. It churns along in all of the predicted ways, throwing twists and turns at detectives who seem utterly lost. At one point, Erika actually asks, "How can a case this simple be so difficult to solve?" Other conversations are written to sound deep and meaningful, and the actors almost manage to keep them from feeling silly. So we get annoyed at ourselves for wanting to know who the villain is. Even if it's obvious from the opening titles.

themes, language, violence 21.Aug.26

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