Manhattan Night

Despite being rife with crime, sex and darkness, Manhattan Night feels increasingly like a cheap ripoff of the genre it so very much wants to fit into.

Director DeCubellis is frightfully beholden to the tropes of the genre, and the premise (involving blackmail, strange dares and an inexplicable horse story) is just not credible.

The thrilling twists and turns of Harrison's plot are here, but DeCubellis's hazy pacing drains the film of the book's zest. Though great material mishandled is frustrating to view, there are nonetheless some bright spots.

It's pretty frustrating to watch a close-but-no-cigar movie like this.

It's not a great movie but a welcome one, if only for how it attempts to revive a whole genre.

What sounds so delicious in the telling is pallid and ludicrous onscreen.

As the movie slowly winds its way toward its anti-climatic final scenes it becomes clear that no amount of stylish direction or outrageous characters can make up for the far-fetched and convoluted story.

It's probably not something worth rushing out to cinemas for, but it's great afternoon viewing with a pack of smokes and a glass of scotch at the ready.

The payoff surprises by extending sympathy in unexpected directions. Besides, the stars really do look the part, with Brody making a convincingly dogged sleuth, while Strahovski is every inch the dangerously seductive siren.

A mystery film that involves videotapes, blackmail, seduction games and assassinations. In his ambition to create a noir film, director Brian DeCubellis fails in his attempt and only offers an incoherent story. [Full review in Spanish]