Reptile: a magnetic thriller (review)
Benicio del Toro wanders through a breathtaking and insoluble neo-noir.
Let’s say it right away, Reptile does not shine with the originality of its scenario. This audiovisual page-turner produced by Grant Singer, better known for his role as a music video director, nevertheless has no shortage of highlights. We follow a cop, Tom Nichols (played by the Oscar winner Benicio del Toro), mired in a nebulous murder investigation, where a real estate agent was violently murdered. The savagery of this crime is vivid in Nichols’ mind, as he struggles to find the solution to the equation. To accompany him in the casting, we find Alicia Silverstone, Frances Fisher as well as Justin Timberlakewho slips into the shoes of Will Grady, the victim’s main suspect and lover.
The staging of this heavy issue is felt through shots, moments of floating where the gazes of the protagonists are plunged into the twists and turns of a Chinese puzzle littered with inconsistencies and which, moreover, cannot be solved. by the simple identification of the culprit. What is surprisingly original is the presence of a crowd of suspects seeming to be playing one, two, three, sun. Well known among reptiles, the game of immobility is essential. Tom seeks to unmask the one who will be betrayed by the drop that will appear on his forehead, like the legendary scene in Total Recall of Verhoeven. Who will crack first? Who will betray themselves stupidly? Disillusionment arises when the investigator discovers the unthinkable story.
The sarcasm of the main character and the American sixties-influenced soundtrack clash with the weight of the investigation. The lyrics of the absurd hit “The Oogum Boogum Song“ of Brenton Wood ring out as a telephone leitmotif and break the heavy atmosphere of this unsolved mystery. Far from being the result of chance, the hit involves a woman who allegedly cast a spell on a man. However, here the murder victim is a young woman, precisely the victim of influential men. Tom is nothing more and nothing less than a vindicator dedicated to restoring order and bringing justice to Summer. In a way, he embodies resistance to this form of masculine deception.
The unfailing support that Judy represents remains to be the most touching phenomenon of the film. Dedicated, she represents a significant anchor point, forming a parallel with the victim, also surrounded by men. Flamboyant in this role, Alicia Silverstone enhances the character with this pout of her own. Her unfailing support for her husband and the alchemy that binds the two partners reveals a magnetic cocktail that we would enjoy without moderation. It must be said that the two actors know each other, Del Toro and Silverstone shared the big screen in 1997 in Excess Baggage. Actor but also producer of the film, Del Toro would have whispered the name of the actress to Grant Singer.
“We both thought she would be perfect for the role. Every time she’s on screen, there’s something so electric about her, but also with their dynamic, because they’ve known each other for so long and worked together.” said the director.
Benicio del Toro’s investment is beyond doubt, especially when we review the approach he takes to honor the roles he plays on screen.
“I play the film. Of course, you have to be in the moment, in the right emotion of the scene. But we must never lose sight of the general tone of the film, the meaning of the story we are telling.“, he explains in an interview.
Dark and subdued, lighting ultimately plays the leading role in Singer’s work. The enigma mixes with the visual, the budding filmmaker imposes his touch as a clip director and flirts with the play of shadows and reflections of the mirror which explicitly recall the clips made for The Weeknd, themselves inspired by film noir. These visual games signify the double-dealing that Tom is about to detect in his solo investigation. The famous expression “I got your back” has never been more unreliable.
