Review - Solace

Solace is a mystery thriller film directed by Afonso Poyart and stars Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean
Solace is an interesting story about a detective in the FBI, who after not being able to stop a serial killer, calls in his psychic friend to help. 
Morgan, Abbie Cornish and Colin Farrell.

This film had a unusual release with hardly any promotion, i hadn't heard about the film until a few days before it came out which is strange because this film seems easy enough to market and they should of tried to market it because its a good film.



The bright spots in the film are the characters and story, the characters are very well developed and multi-layered, we find out a lot about them throughout the story, especially Hopkin's character, John Clancy, whose daughter died years before the start of the film, the film shows how his life has been ripped apart from his daughter dying and he hasn't fully recovered from it, Hopkin's acting was fine in the role, he did what he was needed too do, nothing more, nothing less, which is a shame, it seems like he doesn't really try anymore. On the opposite side of the law is Charles Ambrose, played by Colin Farrell, who is a serial killer with a very interesting reasoning behind his kills, without spoiling it the reason why really makes the audience and the characters in the film question whether he is really doing a bad thing, i love when a film can make me feel that way over something so horrible as murder, Farrell was great in the role, he doesn't tend to play serious villains much, but i wish he would after this performance. The other two main characters are Detectives Merriweather and Cowles played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Abbie Cornish, they don't steal the movie as much as the other two but they are both interesting characters with some dark secrets and are brilliantly acted.

Abbie Cornish, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Anthony Hopkins in Solace

The big problem with Solace is the direction, it feels and looks amateurish, i don't know what Afonso Poyart was trying to do with some of his shots but they came across as messy and uninspired, with weird shots like random zooms and doing extreme close ups for no reason at all, it took me out of the film every-time it happened. 

Solace is good, but it could've been great, i think in another director's hand like David Fincher this film could've been fantastic. The direction gets distracting and Hopkin's performance is so-so, but the story and the other actors are great in the role, if there isn't anything better on at the cinema this week i'd recommend this.

7/10
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