Quoth the H-Man . . . who cares?
The H-Bomb: In this fictionalized take on the “mysterious final days” of Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack), which depicts the macabre writer as a penniless, boorish drunk who constantly belittles his piers and hasn’t written anything of worth in quite some time. The only bright spot in his life, aside from his beloved pet raccoon, is his romance with the lovely Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve), whom he intends to marry, despite the very vocal objections of her powerful father (Brendan Gleason).
Then one day Poe is approached by the young and “infamous” Detective Fields (Luke Evans), who is investigating the double murder of a mother and daughter that was carried out in the exact same manner that was described in one of Poe’s stories. Initially, Poe is the prime suspect, but as more and more murders take place, again lifted directly out of Poe’s writings, he is eventually cleared of the crimes and asked to assist in the investigation. The expected cat and mouse game ensues as the killer leaves grim clues and Poe tries to anticipate his next move.
The stakes are raised when Poe’s fiancé is abducted by the madman and, naturally, the investigation becomes personal for him. Now Poe is desperate and must use all of his wits to find Emily, who is buried alive somewhere, before her time runs out. This all sounds pretty damn interesting, doesn’t it?
Well, what does seem like an interesting premise on paper, is rendered mediocre and plodding in The Raven, the latest from director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin), a filmmaker I’m becoming less and less interested in with each passing project. Here, he takes a genuinely cool sounding idea and, to a large extent, squanders it by turning it into a fairly pedestrian police procedural, set in the olden days, no less, with clunky exposition and sluggish pacing.
It’s not a total loss, however, as Cusack’s commanding performance as the legendary writer-turned-detective, whether drunkenly ranting or feverishly trying to piece together the puzzle, does hold our attention and keep the film from falling apart completely. At first he seemed over-the-top, but his fiery, earnest turn gradually won me over, and he kept me invested even when the script itself did not. Though he did ultimately nail his performance, a thing that kept nagging me as I watched Cusack, is that he looked way too healthy for a guy who was just a couple of whiskey shots away from drinking himself to death.
McTeigue’s vision of 1800’s Baltimore as a dark, shadowy, foreboding place was effective in setting up the appropriate gloomy atmosphere, and some of the set pieces, including an ambush at a masquerade ball, and a chase through the backstage of a theatre, were both well executed and exciting. But most everything else is just a slog to sit through. Poe’s big sit down confrontation with the killer, whose reveal is a big “so what,” is overblown and just plain silly. It’s one of those obligatory scenes where the bad guy takes ten minutes to explain to the hero what he did and why he did it, just so the audience will get it. Lame.
Add on to that a final scene that feels tacked on and less than necessary, and what we end up with is a film that isn’t exactly bad (again, Cusack carries this motherfucker a long way), but given the inherent intrigue of its premise, it’s underwhelming at best. For me, The Raven was particularly disappointing, as I truly did want to like it, and it feels like forever since I’ve reviewed a decent film (does this stream of mediocrity have no end???). It’s definitely not one that needs to be seen on the big screen, but it could make an okay Net watch someday. Or, come to think of it, your time would probably be better spent actually reading some Edgar Allen Poe, instead.
