True Crimes [Reviews]

[grinchy steve]

We already knew these :

"Spicy real-life ingredients and a terrific international cast are frustratingly wasted in Alexandros Avranas' True Crime, in which Jim Carrey — essaying the most serious role of his mercurial career *— makes a reasonable stab at playing an obsessive Polish cop tackling that one inevitable last case before retirement."

The Hollywood Reporter

Avranas attempts to make use of casting Jim Carrey against type by allowing nearly all of the morbid comic relief to be generated by a lewd and lascivious Marton Csokas, here in prime over-the-top form as a bi(a)tchy, pretentious pulp author who churns out perverse novels which would be loosely defined as torture porn. Unfortunately, Carrey is more of a distraction, especially as we constantly expect him to break his dour, morose expression at every turn for a visual gag or punchline. Instead, he is presented here in dogged, monotonous close-ups, frequently juxtaposed with the sneering Csokas, meant to highlight their opposing personas as mere flip sides of the same coin. Their terse exchanges are impossible to take seriously, as are their shared, aggressive correspondences with Charlotte Gainsbourg’s worn looking Kasia, a drug addicted sexual abuse victim who seems to be playing both sides against the middle.

iOnCinema

New one out ! Unfortunatly, it's the third one pointing out the exact same problems ...

Jim Carrey plays a Polish detective trying to unravel a surprisingly uninvolving Krakow murder in True Crime, a film in which all the real offences seem to be perpetrated against the viewer. Few motion pictures these days are this drab. There's a marked lack of visual flair here.

But the words on our man are -as I hoped for- interesting and positive ...

The fault lies neither with Carrey nor Gainsbourg. Carrey throws himself into the role with a grim-faced dedication, sobbing and screwing and vomiting with an intensity and seriousness which has been absent in his previous work. Carrey has taken a risk here, and, for him, True Crimes isn’t a disaster: even when the film fades from memory, it is clear that this could be a solid bridge for the 54 year-old former comic actor – almost unrecognisable here – to move into more serious roles, should he so wish.

ScreenDaily

That's not bad at all.

[AdaL]

Good stuff. Thanks for that.

Really looking forward to seeing it. Although I don't know why they're talking like this is the first time he's done a dramatic role.

[grinchy steve]

True. He has done more serious roles before and got praised for it. But I do understand what they mean. As was clear from the beginning, True Crimes will show us a side of Jim Carrey we haven't seen yet on the big screen yet. So, they aren't really saying it's his first dramatic role, they are pointing out this certain level of seriousness is new for him and us. Kinda like Steve Carell was loved for his more serious and sober performance in Little Miss Sunshine, but it was nothing like his amazing part in Foxcatcher. It's very different. I'm really, really looking forward to this, since it's what I hoped he would do one day since the late nineties.

[Canadian Jayne]

Good news re distribution to theatres
Hopefully that includes Canada

[grinchy steve]

I've noticed more people have seen and rated 'True Crimes', but it's not clear to me where or when the movie was screening. Anyway, I'm starting to wonder : Why isn't this at the Film Festivals? It's a typical movie that should benefit from that. Not one festival so far, I was kinda hoping for a screening at Cannes. I wonder what they are planning to do with this one.

[grinchy steve]

Someone I follow on Letterboxd posted a review (well, just a quick thought) about it :

"Bleak and dark. For the sake of being bleak and dark. Paralyzed by its own super-seriousness. Poor old Jim is trying hard and eventually overdoing it." (2 stars out of 5)

So far, the movie has the following ratings out of 5:

5.0 (0 times)
4.5 (0 times)
4.0 (1 time)
3.5 (2 times)
3.0 (1 time)
2.5 (1 time)
2.0 (3 times)
1.5 (0 times)
1.0 (0 times)
0.5 (0 times)

Curious how it will end up a year after the actual release or so. I think it's already clear this will be mixed. But I also believe the flaws will be forgiven on a certain level, because many seem to be impressed by this 'new' Jim. Well, not the guy I quoted in this post. But, overall ...

Ps: I wouldn't be surprised if they announce this will be a very limited release in theaters and Netflix does the rest.

[grinchy steve]

"Although inspired by an interesting postmodern true crime story, and featuring an unexpectedly depressive performance from Jim Carrey, Dark Crimes is a dull, dark, depressing film with very little on it's mind"

,- IGN

And on different fora the same 'complaints'. Hope to discover it myself very soon.

[Canadian Jayne]

Im sure he learned something
From this movie
And maybe we will also
Life is not a bed if roses
Neither is crime
Or its victims
If we can just see how
Devestating even soving horrendous
Crime can be on the
People who r trying to find and
Bring to justice the criminal

[Canadian Jayne]

Solving

[grinchy steve]

0% on RT at this point, all reviews stating the same problems. But ... Good comments about Carrey's performance. A bad score on Metacritic too. And IMDB is going down fast. Also on Letterboxd, low scores and terrible opinions, even from Carrey fans.

Still curious, no doubt. But expectations are low.

[indy-jones]

I'm waiting until it comes out on iTunes so I can give a review for the site.

[123Dan123]

I just watched it last night. I don't understand all the terrible reviews. I thought it was much better than The Number 23. It is slow moving at times but I didn't mind.

Maybe the bad reviews are because the general public seem to believe Carrey has gone nuts and because of his political stance.

I thought it was a solid film. I'd give it a 7/10.

[grinchy steve]

I don't believe that has anything to do with it, Dan. In fact, most reviews mention all the problems with the movie itself, but are very positive about Carrey himself in this role. So it's very unlikely.

Glad you liked it, though.

Ps: Very curious how we (Europe) will be able to see this ...

[123Dan123]

I don't believe that has anything to do with it, Dan. In fact, most reviews mention all the problems with the movie itself, but are very positive about Carrey himself in this role. So it's very unlikely.

Glad you liked it, though.

Ps: Very curious how we (Europe) will be able to see this ...

Perhaps you're right. I just can't justify how many 0's and 1 scores people are giving it. Maybe the film is too dark for them. Maybe they didn't even see it and gave poor reviews anyways. Jim has been in the media numerous times for things that aren't film related so one has to wonder. Hollywood is most definitely a corrupt place to work. It's not groundbreaking but definitely much better than The Number 23 (which has higher scores).


People in Europe can't see it?

[grinchy steve]

Not sure yet in what way it will be available outside the US. Can be very different from area to area I guess.