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The Pale Blue Eye is a new Netflix movie where, under the notification from Captain Hitchcock (Simon McBurney), Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) is tasked by Superintendent Thayer (Timothy Spall) to investigate the mysterious death, and possibly murder, of a young Cadet, Fry (Steven Maier), who was found hanging from a tree, but with his feet touching the ground.
The year is 1830, in Hudson, New York, so set almost 70 years before Red Dead Redemption 2, but which has a similar vibe to the atmosphere. However, everyone is aghast, because whoever did the deed on Fry, also carved his heart out of his chest. Will he help save the honour of the US Military Academy? Either way, it sounds like A Few Good Men, so who will shout loudest in this?
While interviewing multiple soldiers who may or may not know something, Landor comes across a mysterious note in a place I won’t reveal here, which needs deciphering and takes him to cadet and writer Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling – The Devil All The Time) in a bar, although when he did have a go, I was wondering… “Really??”
But that wasn’t the first time, since after other bodies turn up, along with the same happening to some animals, as we moved into the third act, it started becoming weird as hell, since some of the characters in this film turn out to be mad as a box of frogs.
The Pale Blue Eye has a great cast with the likes of Spall, Toby Jones, Lucy Boynton, Gillian Anderson and a brief appearance or two from Robert Duvall, but as a film, it begins slowly, and then grinds to a halt. I did think it was starting to get into a fairly slow groove early on, but after a while, it does feel incredibly sluggish. Edgar Allen Poe often wrote short stories. Perhaps this one should’ve followed suit.
Alternatively, we can still enjoy Christian Bale being like a gruff, quiet version of Columbo, trying to get to the truth about who the murderer is, even if it is all rather ridiculous.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
The Pale Blue Eye is on Netflix from Friday January 6th, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 128 minutes
Release date: January 6th 2023
Studio: Netflix
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Score: 4/10
Director: Scott Cooper
Producers: Christian Bale, Scott Cooper, John Lesher, Tyler Thompson
Screenplay: Scott Cooper
Novel: Louis Bayard
Music: Howard Shore
Cast:
Augustus Landor: Christian Bale
Cadet Edgar Allan Poe: Harry Melling
Lea Marquis: Lucy Boynton
Mrs Julia Marquis: Gillian Anderson
Cadet Randolph Ballinger: Fred Hechinger
Jean Pepe: Robert Duvall
Dr. Daniel Marquis: Toby Jones
Patsy: Charlotte Gainsbourg
Superintendent Thayer: Timothy Spall
Cadet Loughborough: Charlie Tahan
Captain Hitchcock: Simon McBurney
Mattie: Hadley Robinson
Cadet Artemus Marquis: Harry Lawtey
Cadet Stoddard: Joey Brooks
Cadet Huntoon: Brennan Keel Cook
Cadet Fry: Steven Maier
Cadet Hamilton: Jack Irving
Cadet Llewllyn Lee: Matt Helm
Background Cadet: Kade Nicholson
Tavern Woman: Wendy Renee Cade (uncredited)
Lt. Locke: Mathias Goldstein (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.