Reptile
Quirky murder mystery calls to mind the works of Steven Soderbergh.
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I’m a sucker for a good murder mystery and I can confidently say “Reptile” (streaming on Netflix beginning Friday, Sept. 29) fits the bill.
Benicio Del Toro stars as Tom Nichols, a detective who moved with his wife Judy (Alicia Silverstone) to Scarboro, Ga. from Philadelphia after being peripherally attached to police corruption. It’s here that he reports to Judy’s uncle Capt. Robert Allen (Eric Bogosian), is partnered with Dan Cleary (Ato Essandoh) and pals around with Wally (Domenick Lombardozzi).
Tom and Dan pull a tough case with the murder of Summer Elswick (Matilda Lutz). She was a young realtor found stabbed to death in a home she was showing by her boyfriend Will Grady (Justin Timberlake), a fellow broker working for his mother Camille (Frances Fisher).
Tom and Dan’s list of suspects is lengthy – there’s Will, Summer’s ex-husband Sam Gifford (Karl Glusman), Summer’s friend Renee (Sky Ferreira) and Eli Phillips (Michael Carmen Pitt), an irritable fellow with an axe to grind against the Gradys.
“Reptile” is the feature debut of music video director Grant Singer (he’s helmed promos for The Weeknd and Lorde) and is scripted by Singer, Benjamin Brewer (he previously co-wrote the Nicolas Cage/Elijah Wood two-hander “The Trust” and was the lead visual effects artist on “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and Del Toro (making his feature screenwriting debut).
Comparisons have been drawn between “Reptile” and the works of David Fincher and Denis Villeneuve, but a more appropriate correlation would be Steven Soderbergh. This is a paranoid police procedural with an offbeat sense of humor that’s stylishly directed by Singer.
The movie’s primary draw is the performances of Del Toro and Silverstone – acting opposite one another for the first time since 1997’s underwhelming “Excess Baggage.” Del Toro brings an entertaining and interesting energy to Tom, a cop who’s equally adept at boot scootin’ and fast shootin’. Silverstone’s Judy is a loving spouse who dutifully assists her husband with his investigation. They’ve got a fun, easygoing chemistry that’s a pleasure to watch.
The duo is strongly supported by Bogosian (almost always a welcome presence), Timberlake imbuing Will with an appropriately yuppie energy and Pitt, a gangly, disquieting presence with an all-time awful haircut as Eli.
“Reptile” is arguably overlong clocking in at 134 minutes, but I was never bored by it. Other reviewers have ripped on a deus ex Frisbee that turns up at the picture’s conclusion, but it fits perfectly within the movie’s weird energy. Come for the mystery, stay for Silverstone and especially Del Toro.