the fresh films reviews

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A Closed Book (2010)

Director:
Raśl Ruiz
AKA
Blind Revenge
COUNTRY
United Kingdom
GENRE
Thriller
NORWEGIAN TITLE
-
RUNNING TIME
88 minutes
Producer:
Andrew Somper
Screenwriter (based on his novel):
Gilbert Adair


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Sir Paul Tom Conti ½
Jane Ryder Daryl Hannah
Mrs. Klibride Miriam Margoyles
Andrew Boles Simon MacCorkindale
Canvasser Elaine Paige

 

Review

This hybrid between Sleuth and Misery finds Tom Conti and Daryl Hannah in a battle of wits and will in a large British manor house. Conti plays a famous author left blinded and disfigured after a car accident in Thailand, Hannah is the mysterious woman he hires to be his amanuensis. Chilean veteran director Raśl Ruiz (in one of his final films) wastes no time disclosing that Hannah isn't there for the purest of reasons; she immediately starts disobeying and counteract her employer, weirdly enough in rather childish and trivial ways which, the man's blindness taken into account, appears more ominous for us than for him (genre conventions, anyone?). The ultimate showdown is inevitable, and also includes a thematic plot twist, for good measure. It's not completely ineffective, but it's not exactly groundbreaking either. Tom Conti does the witty aristocrat well enough without excelling, whereas Daryl Hannah is a sorry sight, both when it comes to appearance and performance.

Copyright © 13.11.2012 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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