The Cry of the Owl

THE CRY OF THE OWL (2009) - July 28, 2010
An exceptionally mediocre movie about a guy who gets caught up in the life of a woman who he had been spying on, who turns out to be even crazier than he is.  Filled to the brim with hokey, often laughably bad dialogue, the whole thing was distinctly inauthentic, with nary a single character who felt like a real person.  It became increasingly clear as the movie went on that the director was going for a sort of stylized, film noir vibe, but for the most part it just doesn't really work.  The first half or so was disastrously bad, as the film starts out as more of a low-key drama, and the aforementioned dialogue and character problems are pretty glaring.  It got a bit more enjoyable once the plot really starts to kick in; it takes some twists and turns towards the end that are completely absurd but reasonably entertaining.  I really have no idea how the director was able to get Paddy Considine and Julia Stiles for this mess (who both gave uncharacteristically bad performances, though with material this bad even the best actor in the world would be hard-pressed to come up with something decent).  *1/2