Speak No Evil is your basic people meet other people while vacationing only to discover they may be weird and even malicious in their nature. This was done with a nice cleverness and twist with the 2009 movie A Perfect Getaway.
This movie is a remake of the Danish movie also titled Speak No Evil. I haven’t seen it. But I feel like I probably have seen the type of movie several times over and over. Ben and Louise Dalton (Scoot McNairy and MacKenzie Davis) are one of those married couples who seemed to be on the brink of a separation. They go to Italy with their daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), who is a tween and suffers from a type of autism where she has panic attacks if things change. Louise is very supportive while Ben thinks she’s getting older and should get rid of her stuffed rabbit, Hoppy.
They’re an American family but they have moved to London as Ben had anticipated taking on a job that fell apart through no fault of his own. So, there’s already tension. Also, Louise may have been sexting with a man that has caused some more friction in their marriage. The meet another English couple, Paddy (James McAvoy) and his younger wife, Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and their child, Ant (Dan Hough) who is the same age range as Agnes. They find her stuffed animal but there’s suspicions they probably took it in order to get closer to the Daltons. And it seems like Ant has social issues and can’t talk as Paddy explain he has a health issue that resulted in a small tongue, so he can’t speak clearly.
They all seem to hit it off despite being surprised by Paddy’s behavior even though he says he is a doctor. Back at their home in London, Ben and Louise get a postcard from Paddy and Ciara asking them to come visit their home in the English countryside. A little hesitant, they decide to go which is really out in the boondocks and isolated. Immediately they notice problems such as Paddy insisted Louise (who is a vegetarian) eat some turkey meat. And the house decor doesn’t sit well with her, but Ben tries to get past it saying it’s an older house.
However, Ben and Louise eventually learn there’s a lot more to the passive-aggressive behavior of Paddy and Ciara. And Ant seems to constantly try to communicate with Agnes who can’t understand. Eventually, they’re going to find out the ugly truth. And that’s kind of the problem. You’re just waiting for the reveal to come. There’s not much of a twist here with A Perfect Getaway. So, it’s just going through the motions like other thrillers. It doesn’t help that the marketing pretty much tells us that Paddy is a crazy psychopath.
McAvoy keeps the movie somewhat watchable as his performance makes us question what is going on with Paddy. And this is one of those movies in which the casting of the younger Franciosi is essential to the plot rather than just an A-list actor wanting a younger actress. However, at a long 110 minutes, I didn’t feel the movie did as good of a job as it should as it just seems to keep repeating the same scenario over and over for the first two acts. Paddy and/or Ciara do something that makes Ben and/or Louise uncomfortable. They talk about it with some tensions. Then things get smoothed out and they’re cordial again. Rinse and repeat.
This might have worked some more if McNairy and Davis weren’t so bland in their performances. This is totally a reactionary role for both of them. Yet, they’re supposed to be the protagonists that we’re supposed to sympathize with. It’s mainly because McNairy and Davis really haven’t been as good with these roles. McNairy seems to work best playing characters who really wouldn’t be the protagonist mainly because he has a little standoffish feel to his acting. And Davis seems to mainly work in supporting roles despite the fact that Hollywood still think she can be a leading woman. She can’t.
So, what you have here is a movie in which you’d rather follow the bad guys to know more about them and why they do what they do. And since McAvoy has a helluva time with the performance, you really love to hate him and hate to love him. And Franciosi turns Ciara into a character who matches Paddy’s craziness equally.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 