Hopkins' Psychic Sidekick
FBI agents Joe Merriwether (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Katherine Cowles (Abbie Cornish) have a serial killer on the loose who always seems to be one step ahead of them. It is why Joe decides to pay his old friend John Clancy Anthony Hopkins) a visit as although John has been a recluse ever since his daughter died is also a psychic who has helped Joe on other cases. Lured out by Katherine rather than Joe, John starts to try and unlock the riddle of the case as in what connects all the victims which when he does realises that the killer, Charles Ambrose (Colin Farrell), is also a psychic on a very specific mission.
As I watched "Solace" I jotted a note down about director Afonso Poyart as I wanted to see what he had done other than this movie. The reason being is that there are scenes in "Solace" which scream music video with montages of shots put together in slow motion and bordering on the pretentious. And that is a problem which at times dominates this frankly quite interesting movie as the camera work and styling throughout feels like it is trying too hard to impress. Low cameras shooting up, graphic slow motion, multiple image special effects and those music video style montages all end up too forced and makes "Solace" feel like Poyart was trying to showcase what he could do rather than just focusing on bringing the story to life.
And that is a shame as "Solace" has an interesting storyline with a psychic working with the FBI finding himself dealing with a serial killer who is also a psychic. Not only that but the motives of the serial killer present an interesting moral dilemma when it comes to human suffering and whether death is some times kinder. On top of that the character relationships are nicely worked when it comes to Joe, Katherine and John with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Abbie Cornish and Anthony Hopkins doing a good job of giving their characters some character but not forcing it. If you can look past the scenes dominated by the forced styling what you have is a good thriller with an interesting moral aspect which provokes some thought.
What this all boils down to is that "Solace" could have been a nice little thriller, one which stood out from the crowd for have an interesting idea. But unfortunately the camera work and styling frequently ends up dominating the movie to the point they spoil it by feeling forced.
