Oh? Am I the only one that saw this? I caught it last night just out of pure curiosity since nothing was really advertised about the movie in its trailer. I knew it was a mystery movie and that kind of gimmick in not giving anything away about the movie really piqued my interest.
Having seen it now cold, I thought it was just okay as a mystery thriller...a kind of awkward and rough one at that. It's a drama, mystery-thriller but it's shot, staged, and treated like a comedy. Not that it can't have its own kind of fun, but it feels really clunky as a movie.
Don't get me wrong, the film is actually fairly stylish and both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are good in it (and Kendrick, I realized, can be really sexy if she wants) but for much of the film Kendrick does the typical "modern" style of comedic line delivery, where you say a silly line really fast or say something silly in a dull way. I think that works against the movie because when everything Kendrick says is in a "joke-y" manner, it's harder to believe or know when she's serious.
I think people know this now but this is a Paul Feig movie, and of his offerings, this is easily his best, but the man only can work within his limitations. The movie is just short of being something really good but it lacks a polish and sophistication that just keeps it from getting to that point, and that's all on Feig's shoulders. This movie wants to be classy, stylish, and chic, and there are hints of it, but how he just films the movie, treating everything like a comedy; having the movies editing be like a comedy, cutting back and forth for reactions; how bright and cheerful the cinematography is; and all of Kendrick's line be delivered comedically make this film feel tonally clunky and come off, ultimately, as kinda trashy.
The movie brings up La Diabolique at a certain point and, if anyone has seen it, you will immediately know two things: 1) What the film wants to be, and 2) Where the film is going. That being said, even though I figured out the rest of the film from that point on, it did enough to keep me interested for the remainder just to see how it wrapped itself up, and I did leave the movie in better spirits than I did seeing The Predator (perhaps my bar was already set low).
All in all, it was a decent movie. It was a bit sad to realize this had more potential than what was ultimately delivered but it is a decent offering. It can be stylish at points but it just lacks polish to really take it to where it could've gone.