Grade (D+)
A great cast and solid premise only result in mild tension but not enough suspense.
“SOLACE” features a solid cast without a doubt. Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays Joe, an FBI agent working a series of murders he suspects are all at the hands of one killer. To help him solve the case before more bodies pile up, he enlists the help of a psychic named John played by Anthony Hopkins. Using John’s abilities, they will work together to bring a cunning serial-killer to justice.
I know right, sounds like an interesting plot, which was why I was disappointed when the end-credits rolled and the script never was able to build any true suspense. Don’t get wrong, this was not a horrible movie, there were some very good scenes and for the most part the entire cast were solid in their performances. Even the premise sounded like something that would inspire a compelling psychological-thriller. But all this film turned out to be was a very thin, shell of a script, that was missing much of the ‘meat’ needed to build a solid story. A story that can lure your complete attention with characters that have you hanging on their every word and action.
This script had its moments and while the writing may not have been exceptional throughout, Hopkins at least was able to shine in a couple of scenes where he is able to display his trademark wit and flawless delivery. Farrell was also very good at times, although his character to me was heavily under-written, much like the rest. Neither his, or any of the other characters had any real depth to them. Who these characters were, and why they did what they did was relatively unknown, and why for the most part they failed to connect with me. Despite such a serious tone to the plot I was rather detached throughout the run-time as nothing resonated with me as being overly suspenseful like one would hope after reading the synopsis. 
Like the characters, the plot was also extremely thin, with many gaps in logic and overall information. Not to forget some highly cliche scenarios that do nothing to build any true tension. There are moments when this script tries to hit a more dramatic tone and it simply never lands, mostly because there is no real connection built. In addition some segments of this story are too far on the side of predictable. The pace was uneven and goes from drama to doses of mild action, trying to fill some place of suspense but none of the moments are really set-up well.
In the end “Solace” does not live up to its potential of being a solid psychological-thriller. The criminal aspect to this film it more in reference alone, and the psychic abilities of some characters borders on the point of being a super-power, yet there is zero explanation. To their credit the cast tries their best to pull this story off, and while there are doses of good dialogue, for the most part it is as flat as the chemistry between the characters. In a film that boasts such a solid cast, it was sad to see their presence being much greater than the material they were working with. If you are a fan of some of the stars in this one their performances may be worth a viewing, if you don’t mind a story structure that fails to deliver much intrigue.
– Starring –
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Anthony Hopkins, Abbie Cornish, Colin Farrell, Janine Turner, Xander Berkeley, Matt Gerald, Jose Pablo Cantillo
– Directed By –
Afonso Poyart
Time: 101 min
MPAA Rating: R (For violence and bloody images throughout, sexuality, nudity and language)