The Riddle (2007)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Brendan Foley

Writer:

Brendan Foley (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A journalist investigates a series of murders that follows the discovery of an unpublished novel by Charles Dickens in the cellar of an old Thames-side-pub. Gradually he becomes obsessed with unraveling a century-old murder in the pages of the manuscript. Only when he has done so, with the help of a mysterious beach-combing tramp who stalks the Thames foreshore, is he able to solve the modern murders.

Cast

Vinnie Jones	...	Mike Sullivan
Derek Jacobi	...	The Tramp / Charles Dickens
Julie Cox	...	Kate Merrill
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Roberta Elliot
Jason Flemyng	...	Don Roberts CEO
P.H. Moriarty	...	D.I. Willis / Constable Frederick (as P H Moriarty)
Mel Smith	...	Professor Cranshaw
Vera Day	...	Sadie Miller
Mark Asante	...	Dwayne
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matt Bailey	...	Lab Technician
Daniel Bartlett	...	Rower
Vincent Bishop	...	Interview Room PC (as Vince Bishop)
Barbara Edwards	...	Receptionist
'Long Bob' Elvin	...	Harry the Hat
John Enright	...	Arresting PC
Elly Fairman	...	Veronica Miller (as Ellie Fairman)
Michael Fenton Stevens	...	Alistair Forsyth M.P.
Shelly Goldstein	...	Mrs. Maud Skenshal
Sandy Hill	...	Maid
Gareth Hunt	...	Roy McBride
Scott James	...	Kev
Ted James	...	Baby Jimmy daCosta
Allin Kempthorne	...	Cedric Skenshal
Michael Lawson	...	Mourner
Kenny Lynch	...	Shotgun Ronnie White
Louise Morrison	...	Kelly Robinson
Clemmie Myers	...	Margot and Alice Abercrombie
Tommy O'Neill	...	Foreshore Thug 2
Terry Powell	...	Butler
Magda Rodriguez	...	Ruth
Darren Selvidge	...	Thames River PC
Paul Valentine	...	Foreshore Thug 1

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, language and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

UK:116 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Chislehurst Caves, Chislehurst, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Grosvenor Park Productions

Trivia:

Final film of Gareth Hunt.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the bar scene where the main character is drugged by Tiffany, we see him reach down to pick up her wallet, she is wearing solid black shoes In the next scene (Wide Shot) where she drags the drunk/drugged Vinnie Jones to his apartment, she is wearing open toe shiny ones.

Soundtrack:

Root of Soul

Hoaxed and a terrible waste of time

Well, I got and saw this movie based on the rather high score here (7.1 now), and some of the good reviews. Usually IMDb is a good guide when it comes to score, though in this case I was very much deceived.

The movie is a present-day detective story, with Vinnie Jones as the investigator journalist, who investigates the death of a construction worker. Mixed with this is a made up Dickens' novel (called The Riddle, set in the 18th or 19th century), which also deals with a murder story. Both story lines are connected through the discovery of an unpublished manuscript.

Sounds interesting? It could have been, however this movie horribly fails in a number of areas : 1) Acting. Mediocre at best, but it is watchable. No worse than your average UK sitcom, though for a movie one expects a little better. Especially with a score of over 7. 2) Music. The music used is simply horrible, it distracts and it is annoying. Especially the pub music, and the music which plays in the journalist's apartment. 3) Storyline. This is a big joke. There are gaping plot holes everywhere and even the obligatory love story is so unrealistic that it's almost funny. Furthermore, without going into any detail, I can safely say that the ending is absurd, and one of the worst pieces of acting and storyline of the year. 4) Camera-work. At times camera positions and views are distracting, and serve absolutely no purpose to the "story".

I'm a bit of a movie fanatic, and watch on average 1 to 2 movies a day, but this is easily the worst movie I've seen in months. Don't waste your money or your time on this rubbish.