Before Your Eyes (2015)

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Movie
German title In front of their eyes
Original title Secret in Their Eyes
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2015
length 111 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Billy Ray
script Billy Ray
production Matt Jackson ,
Mark Johnson
music Emilio Kauderer
camera Daniel Moder
cut Jim Page
occupation

Before their eyes (Original title: Secret in Their Eyes ) is an American crime drama directed by Billy Ray from 2015 . The leading roles are cast with Julia Roberts , Chiwetel Ejiofor and Nicole Kidman .

The film is a remake of the Argentine film In their Eyes (2009, original title: El secreto de sus ojos ), which was awarded the Oscar in the category Best Foreign Language Film in 2010 . The plot is based on the novel La pregunta de sus ojos by Eduardo Sacheri .

The film was released by STX Entertainment and premiered in the United States on November 20, 2015.

action

Ray, Bumby, Reg and Jess worked as FBI investigators in the Counter-Terrorism Department in Los Angeles in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks . They monitor a mosque from their open-plan office in the public prosecutor's office. Ray, who previously worked on Homicide, recently joined the team from New York. Also new prosecutor Claire Sloan, an attractive Harvard graduate, catches Ray's attention. Jess, with whom Ray is also a private friend, urges him to meet Claire. However, Claire is already engaged.

Surprisingly, the team is called to an outside assignment. A female body was found in a dumpster near the monitored mosque. At the place where it was found, Ray recognizes that it is Caroline Cobb, the 20-year-old daughter of Jess. Caroline was raped and murdered in the most brutal way. Jess collapses when she sees her daughter's body. Ray swears to find the culprit.

The FBI team is not responsible for the investigation into the murder case. Nevertheless, Ray starts looking for the perpetrator on his own. Jess feels the need to leave town. While Ray is helping her move, he discovers photos from a federal police office party. It shows an unknown young man staring at Caroline. None of the FBI colleagues seem to know the man. When Ray illegally searches the terrorist investigation system, he is able to identify the suspect, a young man named Marzin. Reg tries to keep him from following the trail and soon after confesses that Marzin is his undercover agent, who is working with the authorities to monitor the mosque and who should be protected at all costs. Attorney General Morales also forbids Ray to interfere in the murder investigation. Claire signals to him, however, to cover his private investigations in his free time. She explains that she finds his friendship service to Jess admirable.

Together with Bumby, Ray drives to the address given in the system. In Marzin's house, the two discover a suspicious comic in which they find patterns that reveal Marzin's whereabouts. They can track him down at a baseball game and arrest him after a chase through the stadium. Claire is distressed by the arrest and tries to get Ray to understand that his investigation cannot be used to prosecute because of the conflict of interest and the inadmissible evidence. Nevertheless, she allows him a brief interrogation of the man.

Marzin is cynical and self-confident because he knows he is being protected by the FBI. When Claire arrives and wants to break off the interrogation, he throws suggestive looks at her. She then provokes him by denying him masculinity, whereupon the suspect freaks out and attacks her. Marzin is arrested but ultimately released due to his status as a government informant. Prosecutor Martin Morales declines to pursue the case as there is no evidence. Shortly after Marzin was released, Reg on Morales' orders set the car on fire with the traces of the crime, destroying the evidence against Marzin.

The loss of her daughter affects Jess very hard and she withdraws. Ray makes up his mind never to stop looking for Caroline's killer. He leaves the police and takes a job with a private security company.

Thirteen years later, Ray returns to Los Angeles. After discovering new evidence, he believes he has located Marzin. He calls in to Claire, who has since taken over Morales' post as chief prosecutor and heads the agency. At her place he also meets Jess again, who is now her assistant. Ray hopes that he can solve the old case with his new findings, but is met with skepticism from most of his former colleagues. Only Bumby helps track down the suspect, a horse lover and car thief, identified by Ray. When Ray arrives at an illegal conversion workshop and his former colleagues rush to his aid, a shootout breaks out in which Reg is fatally wounded. To Ray's surprise, Jess is certain that the arrested car thief is not Marzin. She finally calls Ray and Claire to their country home and confesses to them that she found and killed Marzin herself years ago.

Ray doesn't let go of the story and he returns to Jess's mansion. Here he finds out that she did not kill Marzin, but took control of her, and that she is keeping her daughter's murderer locked in a cage in a barn. Ray surprises her when Jess brings her prisoner the food. Marzin has declined to a dehumanized figure and stutters barely understandable words. When he sees Ray, he begs him to get Jess to talk to him. Ray leaves his gun in the barn, leaving Jess alone with Marzin. Outside, he starts digging a grave. A little later a shot is fired and Jess leaves the barn.

Comparison of the versions

The Argentine original In their eyes , like the book, plays in the context of the Argentine military dictatorship . The film paints a portrait of a society in crisis that is exposed to the methods of the authoritarian state. It is a time when thousands of people disappeared and torture was common. This is reflected by the protagonist's difficulty in solving the murder.

The remake is set in Los Angeles in 2002 in the context of the time after the 9/11 attacks. The team around Jess and Ray is one that is deployed in the context of the terrorist threat in the USA to fight terrorism. In 2002, the FBI is paranoid about new attacks, and these are the difficulties Ray faces in his investigation. The 13-year period that covers the film is intended to reflect the time in which the United States is recovering from the trauma and fear of terrorism.

reception

Reviews

In Germany, the film received mostly negative reviews both in the press and in the film communities. Especially in comparison with the Oscar-winning Argentine predecessor, Billy Ray's remake lost significantly.

“The multi-layered story is less believable, the characters lack the depth with which 'El Secreto de Sus Ojos' once captivated the audience.”

The film received 2.5 stars out of a possible 5 from the editorial team when it was released. The visitors to the site rated the film with 3/5 stars. The community on Kino.de gave the film 3.5 / 5 stars, similar to filmstarts.de , with 20 visitor ratings .

However, Julia Roberts' performance was particularly praised by both the press and the communities: "On the other hand, his three main actors are above all doubt, Julia Roberts in a refreshingly unpretentious (and unvarnished) performance as a desperate policewoman and mother (...) "

“It is much more worth seeing what Julia Roberts does with her star personality. She has not so much outgrown the image of the Pretty Woman as that she consciously allowed it to mature. Roles like Erin Brockovich already pointed in the direction in which she is now even more determined with Before Her Eyes : as a dramatic heroine, she does not have to immunize herself against transience. "

Grossing results

Before their eyes appeared in theaters in the US on November 20, 2015 and grossed a total of US $ 20.2 million in North America - with a budget of US $ 19.5 million . The film premiered in Germany on June 6, 2016. Worldwide, the film was grossed only $ 32.2 million.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Before Your Eyes . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , November 2015 (PDF; test number: 155 737 K).
  2. oscars.org
  3. Tony Maglio: Matthew McConaughey, Julia Roberts, Jason Bateman Headline Projects for Showtime, STX Multiyear Deal. thewrap.com, January 20, 2015, accessed November 13, 2016 .
  4. a b imdb.com
  5. ^ A b c German Press Agency (dpa): "Before their eyes": Thriller with Roberts and Kidman . focus.de, June 6, 2016, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  6. ^ Roger Förster: Critique of the Filmstarts.de editors. filmstarts.de, accessed on November 20, 2016 .
  7. ^ A b Bert Rebhandl: Passions always win . FAZ, June 8, 2016, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  8. a b Christoph Petersen: Critique of the FILMSTARTS.de editorial team - Before your eyes . filmstarts.de, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  9. User reviews: In front of your eyes . filmstarts.de, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  10. Before Your Eyes (2015). kino.de, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  11. a b "The Secret in their Eyes (2015)". Box Office Mojo, accessed November 13, 2016 .