Tell-Tale (2009)

Review by Tim-O



Starring: Josh Lucas, Lena Headey, Brian Cox
Directed by Michael Cuesta
As a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, it's fun to watch so-called movie adaptions of the literary giant's work. Even going back to Roger Corman's classic series of films "based" on Poe's classics, it's almost comical to try to find very many connections between the films and the original stories. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a great and suspenseful read. It's also a really simple story that I think would make a great suspense film. Director Michael Cuesta's "Tell-Tale" claims to be "inspired" by Poe's story and only hints at and echoes the original story. Then why call it "Tell-Tale"? I don't know. Why did Rob Zombie title that weird slasher dud "Halloween II"? …but I digress.

"Tell-Tale" is about a single father (Josh Lucas) who has recently undergone a heart transplant. He also has a daughter stricken with a rare genetic disease that fuses bones together causing physical abnormalities. Lucas begins a romance with one of his doctors (Lena Headey) and on visits to the hospital for check ups (and to visit Headey) he begins to hear his heart pound when around certain staff members. The sound is accompanied by weird flashback-like visions of the people causing the disturbances. Lucas finds that his heart donor, and the donor's wife, was a victim of a double homicide and the people causing his episodes were all at the scene of the crime. Then, he seems to become increasingly possessed by the heart and is compelled to start murdering the people causing his heart to pound. He inquires about his donor's murder with the cop assigned to the case (Brian Cox) who seems oddly focused on the wife's murder more than Lucas's donor's. Lucas tries to fight the urge to kill only to have the heart try to stop beating when he does. Cox discovers what Lucas has been hiding. However, instead of arresting him, Cox starts to help Lucas by giving him advice on how not to get caught (!) Cox insists that the degree of the crime warrants Lucas's actions. Lucas continues to compulsively kill while trying to solve the mystery of his donor's murder and the connections that his own victims have to the case.

The movie obviously borrows from movies like "Blink", "The Eye", and "Body Parts" and seems to just throw things together without much concern for coherency. I have respect for the actors in this film (especially Cox) and can only guess that Michael Cuesta's direction was at fault for the uniformly unrealistic performances throughout. Lucas's performance is absolutely annoying. He goes from cool and collected to nutty and hysterical seemingly overnight. He rarely seems to be invested in his daughter except for a few scenes thrown in to try to make you sympathize with his character. The love story between Lucas and Headey is forced and completely unbelievable. She is only there to explain where the hell Lucas's daughter is during all of this and for a "twist" ending that will no doubt make you say. "NO DUH!"

"Tell-Tale" has Hollywood production values and sheen. It's just lacks believable characters and logic. There are a few decent scenes scattered throughout that keep it mildly interesting but it just makes the film more frustrating to watch. My suggestion is to read Poe's story and skip this unfortunate waste of talent and possibilities. 3/10