February 4, 2021
Kern County deputy sheriff Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) went to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for evidence in a murder case they were working on. Deacon used to serve there as a detective, so this was also a reunion with his former colleagues as well. At that time, the biggest ongoing unsolved case was the serial killing of women, all stabbed to death and had their bodies posed. Deacon noted that the style of the killer was similar to another series he was unable to solve in the past.
The current lead detective Jimmy Baxter (Rami Malek) allowed Deacon to tag along in the investigation. Clues soon led them to suspect Albert Sparma (Jared Leto), a bizarre repair shop worker who professed to be fascinated with crime stories. Clever and sneaky, Sparma was able to evade all efforts of the detectives to get him to confess his involvement with the murders. Frustrated, angry and convinced of Sparma's guilt, Deacon and Jimmy resort to rather unconventional procedures to get that elusive confession.
This was a casting coup featuring three Academy Award winners -- Washington, Malek and Leto. Washington's Joe Deacon was grizzled and overweight here as his character had spiraled into mediocrity following a failed investigation in the past. Malek's Jimmy Baxter was supposed to be a hotshot upstart, eager for the camera, but oddly he did not really project a telegenic personality. Leto had really settled into these weirdo sociopath characters, as Sparma was just like the Joker without the makeup.
Overall, this was nice throwback to 90s crime drama movies. Maybe not exactly to the level of other serial killer thrillers like "Se7en" or "Zodiac," but maybe their lesser cousins like "Kiss the Girls" (1997) or Denzel's own "The Bone Collector" (1999). The crime scene set-ups were not that creepy or memorable. The pacing felt too slow midway in its overlong 127 minute run time. Some scenarios were very unwieldy, not the least of which were all those holes in the desert dug up by a single person.
However, that whole ending sequence will definitely make you think. After following all the events in more than two hours, do we actually know the murderer is or not? Have we judged the three main characters correctly? 6/10.
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