Uncovered
To Some-Murder Is An Art.
Julia (Kate Beckinsale), a beautiful art restorer, is pulled into a shadowy world of murder when through her work, she discovers an unresolved murder from centuries ago that seems to have triggered a new wave of murders. As those closest to the painting die-it becomes a race to find out who is behind the murders-and why-before she becomes the next victim.
Member Reviews
Potentially Interesting Subject Deserves Better Execution - Gregg
Julia (Kate Beckinsale) an art restorer finds a hidden message in medieval painting she is working on that points to the murderer of one of the subjects depicted. Fascinated she digs deeper into the origins of the painting and the clues within. The old mystery though is soon paralleled by a new mystery as the people involved in her research start to die. The story is seemingly well suited to the British mystery genre but fails largely due to aspects of the execution.
Kate Beckinsale manages with her portrayal to be both slightly awkward as well as endearingly cute but she seems decidedly out of her depth in a few of the more emotional/dramatic scenes. The film does boast a strong supporting cast of British character actors who may not have name recognition to some but should be highly recognizable to many including; John Wood, Sinead Cusack, Michael Gough. For the most part the supporting cast acquit themselves well considering how cliched their characters are.
While some may find it slow I was interested in the glimpse at the Art restoration process, I thought some things look authentic about the process, but other aspects didn’t quite ring true. The current day murder mystery aspect was far less satisfying, character behavior and actions seemed inconsistent and for me the biggest flaw (considering the genre) was that the identity of the murderer seemed far to obvious. Further the brief flashbacks to the subjects of the painting did virtually nothing to advance or support the story, they simply felt unnecessary.
The film is set in Barcelona but features an almost entirely English cast that speaks entirely in English and makes no attempt at Spanish accents. This is common in American films but seemed odd in a British film. The film makes reasonable use of the Barcelona locations including some wonderful Gaudi architecture, but I actually would have preferred even more attention on the culture and the city.A good rendition of the book - MarcusAurelius
This film is an entertaining rendition of a very complex novel. The book upon which this film is based ("Flanders Panel") is a complex concoction of chess, MC Escher and metaphysics. To work as a movie, things needed to be slimmed down and sexed up. The filmmakers moved the story to Barcelona, so Gaudi figures prominently. This is a good rendition of the book, although it loses some of the magical realism that haunts latin fiction.Decent little art-themed mystery - Superdave
Kate Beckinsale stars as an art restorer who stumbles across a centuries old mystery hidden in a portrait. With the help of a chess hustler she takes to sleuthing, just as the events of modern day begin to mirror the events hinted at in the painting. The result is a quite satisfactory, civilised mystery of the British type.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Potentially Interesting Subject Deserves Better Execution - Gregg
Julia (Kate Beckinsale) an art restorer finds a hidden message in medieval painting she is working on that points to the murderer of one of the subjects depicted. Fascinated she digs deeper into the origins of the painting and the clues within. The old mystery ...A good rendition of the book - MarcusAurelius
This film is an entertaining rendition of a very complex novel. The book upon which this film is based ("Flanders Panel") is a complex concoction of chess, MC Escher and metaphysics. To work as a movie, things needed to be slimmed down and sexed up. The ...Decent little art-themed mystery - Superdave
Kate Beckinsale stars as an art restorer who stumbles across a centuries old mystery hidden in a portrait. With the help of a chess hustler she takes to sleuthing, just as the events of modern day begin to mirror the events hinted at in the painting. The result ...