Reptile – A Cold Blooded Thriller
The feature film debut of music video director Grant Singer, Reptile is a slow burn thriller about a detective investigating the death of a realtor. The detective, Tom Nichols, played by Benicio Del Toro, slowly unravels a web of lies and solves a series of increasingly strange mysteries.
In addition to Del Toro, the film also stars Justin Timberlake and Alicia Silverstone, both of whom did a good job in their roles. Timberlake plays Will, the boyfriend of the murdered realtor who is a realtor himself. His performance is solid, selling the role of the bereaved. He also has a very strange scene where he gets to show his dramatic range. If you know, you know. Silverstone plays the wife of Del Toro – a strong willed and independent woman who isn’t afraid to defend herself. She does a great job in that role.
The film is directed solidly. There’s a lot of cool camerawork and framing – lots of shots in mirrors as characters metaphorically reflect on their actions. It honestly feels like a David Fincher film – both in substance and style. I could see an alternate universe where Fincher directed this (Fincher also got his start in music videos). I’ll certainly be reviewing Fincher’s upcoming film The Killer in just a few weeks.
While this was just over two hours long, it felt much, much longer. I had to pause to let the dog outside and was shocked to see there was over an hour left. I thought it was just about over. I guess that says something about the pacing. I can’t explain why, it just felt much longer than it was.
The first thirty minutes or so were all over the place. It jumped around too much and didn’t have a protagonist. Only when the narrative shifts to Del Toro’s investigation does the film find its narrative footing and the film is allowed to breathe. The second half as a whole is much better than the first half, except for a perplexing final fifteen seconds which I cannot think of an explanation for.
If you’re looking for a detective thriller that isn’t super deep yet still compelling, this could be for you. Don’t expect greatness or set your standards too high – there aren’t even any lizards or reptiles or any kind in the film – but it would be hard to call it terrible. I enjoyed my time.
