Secret Smile
I know I've got tons of Criminal Minds reactions I'm behind on posting, but that's probably going to have to wait until after Christmas. In the meantime, I give you David Tennant's Secret Smile creepiness...
And, let me tell you now, Creepy!Tennant is fucking creepy!
Holy shit is he ever creepy! In Doctor Who, DT's clearly mastered the whole scary/crazy aspect of our favorite Time Lord, so I really shouldn't have been surprised that he'd make such a good baddie, but expecting it and seeing it are two entirely different things. I honestly was cowering behind my couch pillow through many of his scenes (and not just because of the generally crap writing). In Secret Smile, DT just radiates that menacing, unhinged, seething, unpredictable, sadistic quality of a classic cat-and-mouse movie psychopath. And DT plays the baddie with such relish, yet in doing so, manages to keep from crossing that fine line that tips it into nudge-nudge mockery or hamminess. What really sells it and elevates the character from the general banality of the genre is that he pulls off the charming side of the character as deftly, playing sexy and sweet and "genuine" in all the right moments. This makes the success of his manipulations believable and the character of Brendan all the more dangerous. Most male leads can only pull off one side or the other convincingly (if that), but as we all know, DT's not most male leads. The biggest triumph is how DT pulls it all together, vacillating between nice guy persona to total psycho and back in a split second, and, most brilliantly, often portraying all aspects of the character simultaneously. As proved in DW, he's perfect at playing moments when he's saying and doing and even facially expressing one thing while letting his eyes tell a completely different story that gives the tiniest little throwaway bits layers of drama and can turn a scene completely on its head. The man is a marvel. At the same time, I'll confess, as a Who fan, it's a bit hard seeing our good Doctor all stalky/assaulty/otherbadthings-y), so fair warning there.
As for the movie itself, this is basically the Brit version of a Lifetime Movie. So, the writing quality and production values are about what you'd expect. The end of the movie and the major plot twists are completely predictable going in. But, I will say that there were several smaller plot twists and elements that were more original and unexpected, so that kept it reasonably enjoyable beyond just DT (though DT's performance alone justifies a watch, trust me). And, of course, the characters, particularly the female lead, say and do completely ridiculously stupid things typical of the genre. For example, when the female lead, Miranda, has legitimate info and/or a moment she should speak up, she doesn't, but she blathers like a nutter about the useless info and/or at all inopportune times (Case in point: The fact that the guy pulled an obvious psycho stalker move by essentially breaking into your flat to go through all your stuff ten days into the relationship, never mentioned ever. But some random dude tells you said psycho put dog shit in someone's car, that you have to shout out at family dinner as your evidence of his psychoness? Fail.). Similarly, the entire plot could have been prevented/headed off by either, 1) not prominently hanging your spare key next to your front door (seriously, who the hell does that?), or, failing that, 2) after said psycho has demonstrated a penchant for using misappropriated keys to access your flat (repeatedly), you might want to, you know, get crazy and hire a fucking locksmith or something, k? Normally, I'd say something about the precipitating idiocy of bringing home a complete stranger who's name you don't even know, but since in this case that guy looks and sounds like David Tennant, with his native Scottish accent thank you very much (though, seriously, Brit tv, we can't have a Scottish-sounding Doctor or Hamlet (well, that one I kinda get given the rest of the cast) or whatever, but Scottish-sounding obsessed psycho stalker dude, that you give us no problem? Issues much?), Miranda gets a free pass (and a hell-yeah with a side of jealousy) on that one (still, not that I'm encouraging one-night stands or anything, but seriously, ladies, if that's your thing, neutral territory, is all I'm sayin). Speaking of which, for completely shallow enjoyment, DT looks pretty damn good in this, there's shirtlessness, and even a bit of bum (though the context of that particular scene completely ruins it for me). Obviously, whether on shallow or performance grounds, DT is the definite draw here. I absolutely hate Lifetime-ish movies (as you might have guessed from the rantage), but this one was actually enjoyable. Further proof of the epic awesomeness that is David Tennant.
Ok, so now more than ever, I desperately want to see more of DT's earlier work. But, Netflix is surprisingly less than helpful here (wtf?). There's just a placeholder entry for Blackpool and they don't even have Casanova on the listing, much less other works I've been hearing about. Can anyone help a girl out?
.
And, let me tell you now, Creepy!Tennant is fucking creepy!
Holy shit is he ever creepy! In Doctor Who, DT's clearly mastered the whole scary/crazy aspect of our favorite Time Lord, so I really shouldn't have been surprised that he'd make such a good baddie, but expecting it and seeing it are two entirely different things. I honestly was cowering behind my couch pillow through many of his scenes (and not just because of the generally crap writing). In Secret Smile, DT just radiates that menacing, unhinged, seething, unpredictable, sadistic quality of a classic cat-and-mouse movie psychopath. And DT plays the baddie with such relish, yet in doing so, manages to keep from crossing that fine line that tips it into nudge-nudge mockery or hamminess. What really sells it and elevates the character from the general banality of the genre is that he pulls off the charming side of the character as deftly, playing sexy and sweet and "genuine" in all the right moments. This makes the success of his manipulations believable and the character of Brendan all the more dangerous. Most male leads can only pull off one side or the other convincingly (if that), but as we all know, DT's not most male leads. The biggest triumph is how DT pulls it all together, vacillating between nice guy persona to total psycho and back in a split second, and, most brilliantly, often portraying all aspects of the character simultaneously. As proved in DW, he's perfect at playing moments when he's saying and doing and even facially expressing one thing while letting his eyes tell a completely different story that gives the tiniest little throwaway bits layers of drama and can turn a scene completely on its head. The man is a marvel. At the same time, I'll confess, as a Who fan, it's a bit hard seeing our good Doctor all stalky/assaulty/otherbadthings-y), so fair warning there.
As for the movie itself, this is basically the Brit version of a Lifetime Movie. So, the writing quality and production values are about what you'd expect. The end of the movie and the major plot twists are completely predictable going in. But, I will say that there were several smaller plot twists and elements that were more original and unexpected, so that kept it reasonably enjoyable beyond just DT (though DT's performance alone justifies a watch, trust me). And, of course, the characters, particularly the female lead, say and do completely ridiculously stupid things typical of the genre. For example, when the female lead, Miranda, has legitimate info and/or a moment she should speak up, she doesn't, but she blathers like a nutter about the useless info and/or at all inopportune times (Case in point: The fact that the guy pulled an obvious psycho stalker move by essentially breaking into your flat to go through all your stuff ten days into the relationship, never mentioned ever. But some random dude tells you said psycho put dog shit in someone's car, that you have to shout out at family dinner as your evidence of his psychoness? Fail.). Similarly, the entire plot could have been prevented/headed off by either, 1) not prominently hanging your spare key next to your front door (seriously, who the hell does that?), or, failing that, 2) after said psycho has demonstrated a penchant for using misappropriated keys to access your flat (repeatedly), you might want to, you know, get crazy and hire a fucking locksmith or something, k? Normally, I'd say something about the precipitating idiocy of bringing home a complete stranger who's name you don't even know, but since in this case that guy looks and sounds like David Tennant, with his native Scottish accent thank you very much (though, seriously, Brit tv, we can't have a Scottish-sounding Doctor or Hamlet (well, that one I kinda get given the rest of the cast) or whatever, but Scottish-sounding obsessed psycho stalker dude, that you give us no problem? Issues much?), Miranda gets a free pass (and a hell-yeah with a side of jealousy) on that one (still, not that I'm encouraging one-night stands or anything, but seriously, ladies, if that's your thing, neutral territory, is all I'm sayin). Speaking of which, for completely shallow enjoyment, DT looks pretty damn good in this, there's shirtlessness, and even a bit of bum (though the context of that particular scene completely ruins it for me). Obviously, whether on shallow or performance grounds, DT is the definite draw here. I absolutely hate Lifetime-ish movies (as you might have guessed from the rantage), but this one was actually enjoyable. Further proof of the epic awesomeness that is David Tennant.
Ok, so now more than ever, I desperately want to see more of DT's earlier work. But, Netflix is surprisingly less than helpful here (wtf?). There's just a placeholder entry for Blackpool and they don't even have Casanova on the listing, much less other works I've been hearing about. Can anyone help a girl out?
.