Solace Movie Review

Solace (2015)

Rent Solace on Amazon Video
Written by: Sean Bailey, Ted Griffin
Directed by: Afonso Poyart
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Abbie Cornish, Colin Farrell
Rated: R

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
Psychic John Clancy (Anthony Hopkins) works with FBI special agent Joe Merriwether (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to find serial killer Charles Ambrose (Colin Farrell).

Verdict
This is just a few steps above a throw away crime thriller. The main things that set it apart are the talent involved and the twist with a psychic. This could have done so much more with the genre and premise, but the idea is never developed. Even at the end I'm wondering why the actors agreed to be in this. The one thing this does well is manifesting psychic visions.
It depends.

Review
This fits the pulp crime genre with the likes of The Frozen Ground (2013) and Insomnia (2002), b-movies that somehow got top tier talent. Did someone convince Hopkins to agree, and the other actors jumped at the chance to work with him?

This feels like an extended The X-files episode. It's pulpy, but at least it jumps right into it. Hopkins is a psychic that the cops often use to break a case. The editing is slick, bringing the thought process of a psychic to the screen. That is the highlight of this movie and is very well done.

The best thing this movie does is manifesting psychic visions. We see pieces, but not the whole. During the course of the movie visions become more complete and the images become clearer.
The story is less than subtle and often cheesy. The plot has enough of a twist that this detective story isn't a complete chore. At times it feels like it wants to be a dark crime story like Se7en (1995), but I might be making that connection just because I wanted more out of this. With the way the psychic aspect was played up, I expected a lot more from the ending.

If you think Raymond looks familiar, that's Kenny Johnson who played Lem in The Shield (2002-08). He's not the only The Shield alum, Sloman played by Matt Gerald, was Tommy.