This is one of my favorite movies, but I would say it is more thriller than proper horror. Even so, as far as murder movies go, this is one of the better ones.
Two high school guys decide that the only way to be truly free is to commit crimes. The highest crime and freedom is murder, so they do that one. When the body of an anonymous young woman is found on the bank of a creek, Detective Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) and her new partner (Ben Chaplin) are on the case. Cassie and her partner, Sam Kennedy, seem to get along at first, but she is rather unbearable to be around. Something’s rotten in Denmark (or her youth).
The footprints taken from the place where the body was dumped match some strange shoes belonging to one of the young men who killed the girl. When the detectives visit the school to ask him about the shoes, he says they were stolen from his locker three weeks prior. Is young Mr. Richard Haywood (Ryan Gosling, in what I think is his best role, but I haven’t seen Blue Valentine) off the hook? No. For some reason, Cassie really hates cocksure young pretty-boys like Richard (see Denmark).
Richard didn’t do this alone, though. He’s not smart enough. His friend (though they pretend not to be, appearances, you know?), Justin (Michael Pitt), helped him through the crime, being the smart one who read up on his forensics. Cassie does some semi-illegal snooping to find out information linking the boys to the crime, but, before anything becomes clear, hair and fiber tests reveal that the school janitor (Chris Penn), who was friends with Richard, committed the crime. The police matched carpet fibers and baboon hair from the body to the janitor. He was found dead, suicide (convenient, no?). Okay, Richard committed that murder, too.
It’s all part of the plan; everybody needs a fall guy. But things start to go to hell when Justin falls for a girl at school named Lisa (Agnes Bruckner). Richard is jealous, and he sleeps with Lisa to prove to Justin that Lisa is a whore. Things just spiral down from there. Cassie gets kicked off the case, we find out what is bothering her from her past, and the boys decide to suicide pact it out of there (better dead than incarcerated, am I right?).
Spoiler: Cassie’s problem is that, when she was in high school, she married the track star because he was so perfect (at the time). Then he got drunk and hit her. She tried to leave, and he stabbed her multiple times in the chest. She was found, barely alive, in the same circumstances of the girl that Justin and Richard murdered. Back to real time: Cassie chases Richard and Justin to this old house on a cliff over the ocean where they like to make their plans. They’re about to kill themselves (maybe) when she walks in. Richard tries to shoot Cassie, but Justin takes the bullet in his arm to save her. She’s chasing Richard all over this abandoned lodge when they get tangled on the broken old balcony overhanging the sea. Richard is trying to kill Cassie, but then she drops him down to the water (dead). She almost falls off herself, but Justin saves her. Cassie promises to get Justin an easy deal because she’s positive that Richard coerced him into killing the woman. Cassie just hates Richard-like guys that much. Then she notices the ring-imprints on her throat from when Richard tried to strangle her on the balcony. She realizes that Justin had to commit the murder, because there were no ring marks on the dead girl’s neck. Richard was too dumb to take off his rings. Cassie scares Justin into confessing, and all is well. Cassie even feels well enough to go to her ex-husband’s parole hearing. She’s finally got control of her life back.
This movie is visually interesting. It’s got cool sets. The lodge and the houses are extravagant and serene. It’s a nice backdrop for murder. This film is also well acted (and not just the baboon), and well written. I have seen it on several occasions because I like it so much. The fear and confusion is very real. And it’s smart, not just some dumb, slasher killer. This film is built on scientific principles (real or fake, who knows? I’m not a scientist).
Conclusion: 9. I love this movie. It’s not horror, but it’s thrilling. Good acting and writing really are important. I recommend this film if you’re looking for something beyond a blood orgy.
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