“No aspect of his life has so fascinated Poe’s fans and detractors as his death. Unfortunately, there is also no greater example of how badly Poe’s biography has been handled. Shrouded in opinion and contradiction, the essential details of Poe’s final days leave us with more questions than answers. In the end we must accept that the few tantalizing facts we have lead to no certain conclusion. Poe’s death must, probably, remain a mystery — but the puzzle still teases and entices us. It is easy to find ourselves reviewing the stories again in hopes of finding something new, to settle the question once and for all.” - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore
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Detective Fields (Luke Evans) and Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack)
are on the hunt of a killer.
Photo credit:
Intreped Pictures
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The fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan
Poe is the basis for James McTeigue’s “The Raven,” a ridiculously unbelievable
story. I went to the screening somewhat blindly. I enjoy the writings of Poe
and I enjoy John Cusack, the actor portraying Poe in the film, but I guess I
should have known better. Any time a movie attempts to tell a story about a
real person in a fictionalized setting, is bound to have flaws. In “The Raven,”
a serial killer is on the loose. The only connection to each murder is that
each represents one the Poe’s writings. Poe’s girlfriend, Emily Hamilton (Alive
Eve), could be the next victim, so Poe is sent to help Detective Fields (Luke
Evans) discover who the killer is. Who is a better expert on Poe’s stories than
Poe himself?
“The Raven” fails both as a biography and a mystery. First,
Cusack appears to be playing Robert Downey Jr. playing Sherlock Holmes, the
role Cusack apparently really wanted. Very little information is given about
Poe’s personality except that he isn’t well-liked, has a drinking problem and
isn’t financially stable. Evans makes no effort to make the character likeable.
As far as the mystery goes, the “who-done-it” doesn’t give any clues on who the
killer could be. The killer doesn’t even make an appearance until the last 15 minutes
of the film. By the time of the big reveal, the viewer is less “I’m shocked”
and more “who is that guy again?” Finally, the film has no redeeming value and
is overly grisly. Poe had a knack for describing the macabre in an intelligent
way. “The Raven” is way more “in your face” in its’ storytelling.
What “The Raven” does have going for it is that it is very
stylish. McTeigue, known for “V for Vendetta” and the “Matrix” movies,
certainly show’s his touch in that way. What may be the most mysterious thing
about this movie is that, for a story about an American author, the film is
very international. All of the filming took place in Belgrade, Serbia and
Budapest, Hungary.
What could have been an exciting morality tale, ended up a
bloody mess with a disappointing ending. Sorry John. You could have done so
much more. (Originally posted on Examiner.com)
