How does the remake of the 2009 Oscar Foreign-Language winning film fare with critics?
The Guardian: ** Peter Bradshaw thought that the film contained : “an interesting and even quite courageous performance from Roberts.”
Yorkshire Evening Post: *** Damon Smith wrote: “Secret In Their Eyes is a competent update of a vastly superior tale.”
Irish Times: **Donald Clarke commented that: “the film, like its predecessor, moves with satisfying momentum towards a dark twist that feels entirely fair and honest.”
The Telegraph: ** Tim Robey felt that the film: “Managing to be simultaneously underdeveloped and overwrought is a common flaw in pseudo-adult thrillers.”
Sino.co.uk : Amii Griffith said: “although it’s well thought out, the ham-fisted way it’s presented leaves something to be desired.”
Rolling Stone.com: ** Peter Travers found: “The movie keeps leaping across time without generating suspense or keeping its tenuous hold on reality.”
New York Times: Stephen Holden wrote: “There is far more crackle in an average episode of Law & Order.”
The Wrap.com: Alonso Duralde commented that: “This isn’t a lazy or contemptuous movie, but for all its ambitions, it just doesn’t work.”
Variety.com: Justin Chang found that Julia Roberts: ” brings an acrid sense of bitterness and sorrow to this exceedingly sharp-witted sleuth.”
Vulture.com:Bilge Ebiri wrote: “It doesn’t always work, but the tense, constant sense of unease persists long after the balls have been dropped and the film is over. That’s something.”
Overall Verdict: not entirely successful remake – but the one thing that all critics seem to agree on is the strength of Julia Robert’s performance.
The Secrets in Their Eyes is released in UK cinemas on the 26th February.