The Pale Blue Eye

"It’s a handsome adaptation, albeit with an unnecessary bit of literary celebrity dragged alongside..."

"Maybe, in truth, it never really does get going. But the story’s stately pace is part of the attraction..."

"An entertaining piece of counter-factual noir."

"(A) gloomfest..."

"Lavishly appointed and stodgy as week-old Christmas pudding..."

"It’s beautiful writing and impeccable acting in a perfectly bleak and maudlin movie."

"A tell-tale bore."

"What (the film) may lack in fully propulsive storytelling and consistent narrative focus is more than made up for by its handsome physical production and gorgeous camerawork."

"The big mystery is why this Christian Bale thriller isn't better."

"It’s one of those handsomely mounted period pieces that should get under your skin; instead, it slumps from scene to scene with little momentum or tension..."

"Chills and satisfies..."

"Lavish but lacking..."

"Cooper the writer is clearly not trusted by Cooper the director, who shoots this ripe malarkey with a slow and earnest gaze..."

"A handsome murder mystery with a neat literary twist... overcast by the gloominess of its protagonist and the implausibility of its revelations."

"It may be Cooper’s best historical film, and perhaps that’s because there’s a distinct melancholy to it..."

"Less a macabre masterpiece, more a so-so episode of Inspector Morse..."

"The story is shot through with the same sense of dread and foreboding as is found in much of Poe’s writing, but is rarely truly terrifying"

"Its one problem... is that it comes with a glacial pace to match its wintry setting."

"(Turns a ) shudder-inducing light on the darker recesses of the human heart."

"(Cooper leaves) too many themes and ideas on the table for his movie to work."

"Overlong, leaden and unsubtle.."

"Even when (The Pale Blue Eye) takes some insanely big dramatic swings, Bale is immersed in his performance."

"Its plot is riddled with holes... but it’s packed with terrific actors and achieves the light chill of a Christmas ghost story."