Secret In Their Eyes

Thirteen years ago, Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was a member of a L.A. anti-terrorism task force frantically trying to prevent another 9/11. Today he’s haunted by the one crime they couldn’t solve – the murder of the daughter of his partner Jess (Julia Roberts). But when he knocks on the door of L.A.’s new D.A. (Nicole Kidman), he’s got more on his mind than trying to rekindle the romance they could never quite make work. He thinks he’s finally tracked down the suspect they couldn’t nail 13 years ago, and it’s going to take all three of them to see justice done.
This competent remake of a haunting 2009 Spanish film works best as a generic cop thriller, as writer / director Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) fails to find much depth in the characters or the material, lurching towards cliché pretty much every chance it gets. Ejiofor is your typical cop on the edge (presumably it’s because of his bond with his partner, though it’s hard to tell), Roberts is effective but largely wasted as an empty shell and Kidman is mostly befuddled; the sorrow and loss the story requires to make it worthwhile is forever out of reach.
Reviewed by Anthony Morris