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Rating of
2.5/4
"Dark Places" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 08/04/2017
When approached by a cabal of amateur detectives determined to reopen the case, the sole survivor of a family murdered in their home begins to question the guilt of the man imprisoned for the crime: her own misfit teenage brother.
Another adaptation of a novel by Gillian Flynn - the author of Gone Girl - Dark Places is a murder mystery with the familiar premise that all may not necessarily be how it seems; false memory, circumstantial evidence and perceptions formed by prejudice and external manipulation can lead to gross miscarriages of justice. The story is told in parallel between current and past events - rather like John Sayles' Lone Star - and features another strong central performance by the ever-watchable Charlize Theron. In fact, technically there is little to fault; the …
Rating of
2.5/4
To Bury the Past is to Abandon Your Future
Chris Kavan - wrote on 10/15/2015
Coming out on the heels of the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, Dark Places is likewise based on the novel of the same name. Now, let's face it, anything following Gone Girl is going to have a rough time and Dark Places is no exception. While it does its best to navigate the twists and turns of a murder mystery, it feels too rote in its execution, despite some good performances.
We follow Libby Day (Charlize Theron) who was only seven years old when the rest of her family was brutally murdered. Her teen brother, Ben, (Tye Sheridan), a fan of heavy metal and (by default in the 80s) Satanism was quickly apprehended and charged with the crime, despite the clear lack of evidence to his involvement. Years later, with sympathy money running out now that she is an adult, Libby …
Rating of
2/4
Dark Places
lastonetoleave - wrote on 08/27/2015
Dark Places (2015) R Libby (Charlize Theron) was only seven years old when her family was brutally murdered in their Kansas farmhouse. Now it’s twenty-five years later, and she is revisiting the scene of the crime. Fans of Gone Girl (2014) are probably going to be disappointed with this film, also based on a Gillian Flynn novel. Led by two strong performances in Theron and Christina Hendricks (who plays Libby’s mom ), the film is an intriguing mystery that is let down by some poorly written dialog. The film has a few twists and turns to keep you guessing on who killed Libby’s family but takes way too long to resolve the mystery. Chloe Grace Moretz gives probably the worst performance of her career as the bad girl who gets involved with Libby’s brother (Tye Sheridan). Dark …
Rating of
2/4
Made for Cable Murder Mystery With Hollywood Cast
Unknown - wrote on 08/10/2015
'Dark Places' is the next movie adaptation from the works of Gillian Flynn. After seeing (and loving) 'Gone Girl' I was amped for some more twisted mystery, especially when noticing the stellar cast. Sadly, this is no 'Gone Girl'. Not even close. The writer/director has stripped away any uniqueness of this original story and presented it as some typical murder mystery fluff you'd see on cable. It's plodding and dreary. The characters are too easily defined, making the resolution easily foreseeable. I figured out this mystery long before the characters on screen did and spent the rest of the time waiting through the slow progression of staged dialogues. Simultaneously following the events that led up to the past murders and the current day solving of the case worked well enough. …
