The whodunit Reptile is currently trending on Netflix.
The tagline for the newly released movie directed by Grant Singer is as follows: “A hardened detective uncovers a complex web of deception as he digs for truth behind the brutal murder of a young real estate agent.”
Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro stars in the lead role as the above-referenced sleuth named Tom Nichols.
Others in the cast include Alicia Silverstone as Tom’s wife Judy, ex-boybander Justin Timberlake as the victim’s boyfriend, and Eric Bogosian, Dominic Lombardozzi (of The Wire fame), and Ato Essandoh as among Nichols’ cop colleagues.
Michael Pitt (who you may have seen in the excellent and underrated HBO series Boardwalk Empire) has a small role as a creepy, possible suspect.
Warning: Some spoilers follow
Singer, Del Toro, and Benjamin Brewer receive screenplay writing credit for Reptile, but the trio really needed a copy editor for the slow-paced finished product which runs about two hours.
In a low-energy, albeit typically charismatic, performance, Del Toro, 56, seems to be phoning or emailing it in, although maybe that was just a form of purposeful method acting for the role of the world-weary detective.
The Nichols character’s personality may even epitomize the #Netflixandchill concept.
The portrayal of the methodical Nichols character engaging in non-glamorous, procedurally driven investigatory functions such as pouring through public records, routinely interviewing witnesses, and whatnot does seem very real in the context of actual police legwork.
His off-hand quip about “milking overtime” also seems authentic as does the brief moment when he Googles kitchen faucets for his own home (similar to the one at the crime scene) while on duty.
Much of the dialogue delivered by other actors is cringe and forced, however, although the scene where the gumshoes place bets on the identity of the perpetrator is pretty cool in a gallows-humor sort of way.
Parenthetically, the makeup artist on the Reptile set must have raked in the OT during the production, especially given the odd closeups in the movie.
In the end, despite the buildup and all the atmospherics, the murder mystery storyline is wholly unconvincing, and the rushed, final confrontation is absurd.
Moreover, why does so many screenplay scribes in this genre feel the need to create a ridiculous conspiracy orchestrated by evil businessmen and/or women as central to the resolution instead of just a straightforward homicide investigation without all convoluted corporate corruption overlay?
It’s roughly equivalent to contemporary sportswriters who apparently deep down believe that their life’s work is so unimportant or trivial that they needlessly virtue signal about social justice.
And what is about about cliche-ridden treachery in these kind of yarns that the conspirators are hell-bent on incriminating themselves — in this case conveniently in a living room of one of their homes?
Based on what goes down in the film, the Nichols character seriously needs new friends if not a brand-new social circle, and perhaps the most dangerous place in America is to be a participant in his weekly poker game.
Reptile includes at least two tired tropes that that crime dramas should avoid at all costs, but it never fully explains the scandal that forced Nichols and his wife to flee the big city for small town life somewhere in New England.
Nor does it explain Nichols’ hand injury that oddly gets a lot of screen time.
Reptile nonetheless currently has a 6.9 (out of 10) user-review rating on IMDB, but that evaluation might be inflated because of what seems to be planted 9/10 reviews, a gaslighting technique by no means restricted to this one film.
Speaking of IMDB, thanks to a user on that platform for explaining what the title of this movie even means.
According to three other IMDB reviewers, “Reptile epitomizes the mediocrity that plagues many Netflix movies. Its lackluster plot, uninspired characters, and feeble attempts at humor make it a snooze fest”…and “this was a slow-burn, with no big flame, and it was immediately extinguished,” and “the abrupt shift in focus at the one-hour mark disrupts the narrative flow, leaving the audience somewhat disconnected from the unfolding events.”
The Reptile verdict by IGN writer A.A. Dowd: “Benicio del Toro’s understated performance as a soft-spoken detective is about the only interesting thing about this new Netflix thriller, which drowns a thin murder mystery in lots of ominous atmosphere.”
Reptile on Netflix
Note: This review may be updated.
Quiet, slow, methodical, not boring. Slowly realizing your “friends” may actually be your enemies. Seems to be a couple of loose, dead, ends, investigations, like life is like that.
BTW; Sicuro pt 3 is a go for production.