Dark Crimes

I would've never known about this if it wasn't for RT, and I would've been fine. But at the same time, I don't think it is as terrible as the critics and a lot of people claim it to be - but isn't good either. It is not original or unique. Also, it is not a typical Hollywood cop drama with shootouts and explosions, in fact, it is not a cop drama. It is a psychological crime thriller. That's the best way in which I can describe it. It is dark and filthy. It has a considerable amount of violent "intimate" scenes and some graphic scenes quite similar to that. So, if you find those grose - don't check it out. Speaking of the story, it has one of the most generic "previously prestigious cop due to some recent past events is now living a miserable life with a broken family and wants his prestige back" character played by Jim Carrey. And, a lot of it feels like an adaptation of "Basic Instinct" (1992) rather than some real events it claims to be - with some minor alterations. There is an author who writes erotic stories and is suspected to be the one behind it - but just not what it turns out to be in "Basic Instinct". The scenes, psychological manipulations, etc seem so similar to it - with different interpretations. Whatever they did with Carrey's character is simply the obvious cliché of what happens to a generic character like this in a dark world set up by the movie. The first reveal was predictable - after you know what's going on. And, it was the most obvious thing again. Doesn't make the movie worse, but at the same doesn't make it better. The second reveal was something I didn't really see coming in the way it did. But it feels really too much of a lazy writing and over the top. And, the way Carrey deduces things in the way he does while investigating is also something we've seen a number of different times. I didn't hate the pacing and the way it was going - I thought it was fine. Jim Carrey gives a very nice performance on his part. I loved him in this movie. I have seen his "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Mask" and absolutely loved them. And besides these, I might have seen Ace Ventura movies and probably "Bruce Almighty". I don't recall watching him in a role like this and giving a performance like this. But again, I have watched only few of his movies. So, I don't know if he has done a similar role and given a more powerful performance. Sadly, on the whole I found it frustrating. I really wanted to like this movie, but I couldn't. Score : 4/10 Grade : D+ Label : Okay, okay .... f**k! Nothing there

Greetings again from the darkness. A neo-noir "inspired by actual events" and based on a compelling 2008 "New Yorker" article by the great David Grann (THE LOST CITY OF Z) seems to have the necessary components for a satisfying thriller. So what went wrong? Unfortunately, a messy script from Jeremy Brock (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) prevents this one from ever having a chance at grabbing our attention, much less holding it. This is the first English language film from director Alexandros Avranas (MISS VIOLENCE, 2013) and his cast is led by Jim Carrey as police inspector Tadek, a disgraced cop who takes care of his elderly mother while also obsessing over the now coldcase that ruined his career. Carrey sports a Polish accent through "most" of his performance ... a performance that is mostly subdued, especially given his career. Joining him as co-leads in the cast are two other excellent actors: Martin Csokas and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Csokas plays Kozlow, the main antagonist and suspect - an author with clues to the key murder highlighted in his novel. Ms. Gainsbourg is underutilized as Kasia, the former sex worker, now intimate acquaintance of Kozlow. She is the key to solving the case. Grann's article entitled "True Crimes: A Postmodern Murder Mystery" told the story of novelist/convicted murderer Krystian Bala. It's an article worth reading and one that bears only passing resemblance to this screen adaptation. The film is purposefully drab, bleak, dark, grey and dour, with a stark, cold look to the characters and most every scene. Tadek is a man on a mission to save his reputation, even at the expense of his family life, or really any life at all. The game of cat and mouse between Tadek and Kozlow never reaches the level of tension that the film seems to think it does ... even in the one-on-one interrogation scene or the seemingly endless blabbering of the recordings Tadek listens to. There is a terrific international cast of supporting actors including Vlad Ivanov, Robert Wieckiewicz, Piotr Glowacki and Agata Kulesza, but the cast is only able to do so much with the material. Perhaps the draw is supposed to be Jim Carrey is the darkest role of his career. On the bright side, the story is neatly wrapped up at the end thanks to one character who deserves a "win".

This is easily the worst movie I've seen this year. Some lame BDSM titillation (if you can even call it that) tries in vain to keep the viewer interested, but that few seconds here & there of barely R-rated lameness cannot overcome the insanely slow pacing, the dialogue, the overall dark mood, the complete lack of any effort at all by the screenwriter and the actors. You Have Been Warned. And Jim Carrey, you should be ashamed of yourself.

I thought I knew the extent of Jim Carrey's breadth but I was wrong, he was great in this role. I didn't even "recognize" him. First off if you're an American it's probably true to say you'd have to be a fan of "foreign" films. It has a very European look & feel to it and the plot and pacing is very non-Hollywood. I'm grateful for that, being a fan of "foreign" films myself. The ending as many have said had a bit of a twist but I sort of expected it. It didn't quite hit me as hard as the ending of say, The Vanishing by George Sluizer (the original, not the terrible American remake with Jeff Bridges or the terrible, terrible remake of the remake w John Cusack) but it was still right in line with the sobering unsettling type of endings I like. An added plus was that it was in English and I didn't have to read subtitles. So much is lost in reading subtitles rather than understanding the language spoken in the film. Vocal inflections and nuance are lost if you are not fluent in the language spoken in the film. There was no problem with that here though. I recommend giving this film a try, if only to see Jim Carrey stretch out well beyond his usual shtick and do it astoundingly well.

One of the few films with American ties that depicts Europe the way it is. Watch it, don't be fooled by those claiming it is boring. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

Wow what a different JIM CARREY we have here!!! & he was Excellent in this very dark crime Thriller, i think Carrey is great at Drama & this movie really shows how good an actor he really is, feels like we're FINALLY getting to see the REAL jim carrey,the Jim Carrey he always wanted to show on screen!!! I grew up watching Carrey like EVERYONE did as the rubber face crazy comic genius but there is NO trace of that Carrey here at all!!! Here is a powerful performance by the "New" Jim Carrey & i loved it. Dark Crimes itself is a very dark & dreary Crime Thriller & I'm not going into the story because this should be watched not knowing really anything about it except it's a dark crime Thriller & that's how i watched it, i didn't read or watch a single review i just heard about Jim Carrey doing this very serious crime Thriller & waited to buy it on dvd. So yeah this is a very good Thriller with a very moody atmosphere & very dreary & dark with a serious & excellent JIM CARREY who gives a fantastic performance with an accent!!! Just watch it & get hooked into the story like i did & I'm so looking forward to more darker serious roles by Carrey hopefully in the future? JIM CARREY has successfully transitioned from Comic legend to a great serious Actor

Wow...Just terrible. What a waste of time. First of all, why does Jim Carrey take these kinds of roles? "The Number 23" was a crappy somewhat of a porno Jim Carrey film but it was far better than this crappy somewhat of a porno snuff-ish style film. Save your time. Bypass this one. Basically Jim Carrey is a dwindling detective in a foreign country who is trying to solve a cold case about some no name guy who got killed in some underground sex club. His prime suspect is a novelist and the Chief of Police is corrupt but really has no role in the movie other than just being there.

I saw True Crimes today, during the 32. Warsaw Film Festival. I came to the screening with high expectations and maybe this is the reason why this crime thriller left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. The story (based on actual events) keeps your interest for the whole 1,5 hours, but I wasn't sitting at the edge of my seat. I didn't feel that high level of emotions. The actors did good, but I think they could do better with a more challenging material. Jim Carrey, who is an excellent drama actor, definitely can show more of his talent. Wonderful Polish actors (Robert Wieckiewicz and Agata Kulesza) were not used as much as they deserve to. I'm also surprised that Marton Csokas and Charlotte Gainsbourgh didn't try to pronounce Polish names correctly (it stood out even more when Jim Carrey proved it's not so hard actually). It just needs a bit of practice. But who knows? Maybe the director didn't care either? The film is good. Worth watching. And the end might surprise you.

This movie is a complete waste time.i was hopeful to see Jim Carey in a serious role. He is a great actor. The storyline could have been good. The music never helped out. Very monotone throughout the movie. Almost fell asleep at times. Was not even with on-demand fee.

The film was boring and never really got beyond that. i wish i could get the time back but i cant. what a shame newbies still get away with scoring 10 for the first film they review when everyone else is scoring it very low. it should be about a 3 at best.