Secret in Their Eyes Review - 2 Stars

The coming attraction trailer for “Secret in Their Eyes” caught my attention.  Julia Roberts makes a rare appearance as an FBI investigator sent to a crime scene where  she discovers her daughter has been brutally murdered.  Roberts gets a big moment of discovery and grief.  The investigation starts and the criminal appears to get off the hook.  Robert’s friends in the FBI do some undercover investigating of their own.  The excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor takes the lead. Their suspect is an informant Homeland Security will protect in order to move their terrorism work forward.  Nicole Kidman joins the plot as an assistant district attorney for whom Ejiofor is quite smitten.  “Secret in Their Eyes” remakes the 2010 Best Foreign Film Academy Award winner from Argentina.  Most who see this American version won’t know how much better the original worked in a South American setting.  Julia Robert’s looks terrible as the grief-stricken mother.  Her look is appropriate but never do we forget we’re looking at an un-glamorized Julia Roberts.  A subplot of a fizzled romance between Ejiofor and Kidman distracts due to the couple’s lack of chemistry.  The twist at the end which delivered a genuine shock in the original feels disappointing in this American remake. Flashbacks between 2002 and 2015 get confusing and hard to follow.  The best thriller I’ve seen this year is “Room.”  “Secret of Their Eyes” doesn’t come close.  Does it deliver what it promises?  Slow confusing crime thriller.  Is it entertaining?  Slow and confusing.  Is it worth the price of admission?  Skip it.