Boston Strangler

I love Keira Knightley as an actress in many other movies, but somehow she didnt shine in this role as a female journalist unravelling a serial murder mystery.

The bad: this movie is simply going through the motions. No surprises. No spark or punch. No real thrill. No originality. Everything about this serial killer movie has been done better by others before...

More bad: it has got an annoyingly heavy soundtrack, that must constantly remember me as a viewer, that now THIS scene and now THAT scene is suppose to be ominous and spooky. When it's no such thing. Bummer!

Not any good then? Honestly, I have been critisizing this movie but it's certainly not a terrible movie, merely a rather BLAND and BORING one.

Similar to many other reviewers on Imdb, I also had many flashbacks of the brilliant movie called "The Zodiac" (2007) with Robert Downey Jr. And Jake Gylenhaal. Go watch THAT movie instead of this failed COPYCAT flick! "The Zodiac" (2007) is HIGHLY recommended by me and by many other true fans of this genre!

It's 1962 Boston. Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) is a junior reporter stuck in the Lifestyle section with all the other girls. Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) is the only woman doing any hard investigative news. Their boss Jack Maclaine (Chris Cooper) keeps rejecting Loretta's story ideas until she notices some similarities between three murders. She is the first to write about the Boston Strangler while struggling to maintain her home life. Detective Conley (Alessandro Nivola) investigates the frustrating case.

It's a standard investigative reporter movie. It doesn't go overboard with the drama and flash. The mute color tones infiltrate the story. Keira Knightley is doing the work and there are some great actors here. There are no car chases. It's a lot of reading through boxes of files. This is not trying to make this into an action thriller. I would like these smart people to consider the final conclusion earlier. In that sense, the title should be changed.

This isn't so much a story about the notorious murderer, but more one of two investigative journalists who meticulously followed the case and tried to establish the truth behind these gruesome crimes. Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) was largely responsible for taking the initiative to her editor (Chris Cooper) but that published, convincing, analysis drew considerable disdain from the police and she was swiftly booted off the story. Undeterred, she persisted and ultimately with the more experienced Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) is reinstated and allowed to develop her theory that - well, maybe there isn't just one strangler! To be fair, I am not particularly well versed in the history of this, but I did find this a very dry and procedural drama that reminded me a little of "Official Secrets" (2019). Again, this saw Knightley in a smilier sort of role, and again delivering it very much as if it were straight off the page. There is little evidence of passion here. The tenacity and perseverance of these two women - at times putting the safety of themselves and their families on the line - isn't really captured here. It's wordy, at times a little too earnest and though it looks good it's just all a bit sterile. This is a fascinating story that looks at serial killings, copycat killings and strong investigative journalism all in the face of a rather linear (and sexist) approach taken by the authorities. It ought to be scintillating and intriguing - but this is certainly not.

I had seen the Tony Curtis movie, and had also learned that DeSalvo may not have been responsible for all the killings, but that was all I really knew about the case, so this movie filled in a lot of the gaps, and while it featured a lot of interesting information, I did wonder why the epilogue did not include anything about the person of interest named Dempsey, who I then had to search online to find out that he was a fictionalized character based on a man named Charles Terry, who was suspected of being the original Boston Strangler.

I did expect more of a sense of urgency; the film just seemed to ramble along on one flat note, whereas films like this tend to, via very typical means of direction, acting, soundtrack, camera angles, etc., produce more tension and suspense, even if only on the part of the characters in the story. There was just no excitement here or any feeling of accomplishment, either from Carrie or Keira, and I have to note that Keira was strangely stiff. Her face never seemed to change expression, and while I didn't mind her accent at all, not expecting the characters to all have the typical Bah-ston accent, I was more put off by her total lack of affect, and I really hope it was simply due to some medical procedure like Botox and not that she is just losing her touch. In fact, it was strange to see more animation in the still photos shown in the epilogue of the actual woman she played..

So while the film has an interesting and informative storlyline, it just feels totally flat and uninvolving, and you will really have to make an effort to stay focused..

A number of reviewers, especially those who claim to be 'true crime buffs' dismiss this fim as boring, average, slow and not really true crime. They are wrong on every count. I can only presume they were expecting some graphic, violent retelling of the Boston Strangler crimes and they completely missed the point. This is an intelligent and gripping account of first rate journalism, police incompetence and the likely truth behind these shocking murders. The sexism shown to Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole was very real and not something drummed up to satisfy a 2020s audience as some claim and despite that, these two women did more to unearth the truth about the Boston Strangler killings than the police. The performances by Kiera Knightley and Carrie Coon are subtle and believable, indeed the whole cast is good. It shows that one doesn't need relentless action and over the top histrionics to tell a good story. This is the realistic side of true crime: hard work, dogged determination and the courage to face the horrific nature of these crimes and keep searching for the truth. I suspect that what some of these, presumably male viewers, did not like is that it is the two women and their remarkable work that is the focus of this film and not simply the Strangler. Personally I think it is good to see another side of the story and one that is not so well known.