Movie Review - Blue Caprice

Blue Caprice (2013)

Starring Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Tim Blake Nelson, and Joey Lauren Adams

Directed by Alexandre Moors

I remember the Beltway Sniper case of 2002 quite vividly in part because I had relatives who lived nearby as the terror unfolded over the course of several weeks.  That connection to the crime had me interested in seeing Blue Caprice, but the debut film of Alexandre Moors just plays too much like a stereotypical "indie" pic -- lots of deep meditative talking, lots of shots of trees passing by in a car, drab settings, slow pace.  While it seemingly had the grounds for a good story, Moors and the film's screenwriter fail to make the story captivating.

While it's interesting to see how John Muhammad (Isaiah Washington) met the seventeen year-old Lee Malvo (Teguan Richmond) and "corrupted" him/guilted him into obeying his whims, my biggest problem with Blue Caprice is that I never quite grasped why Muhammad was so ticked off to go on his rampage in the first place.  Admittedly, maybe the film attempted to describe it beyond "My Ex-Wife Stole My Kids From Me and The State Always Sides With The Woman," but the snail's pace at which this film's first hour meanders by failed to allow me to watch it without stopping the Blu-Ray multiple times so I may have missed certain aspects of the plot.  Nonetheless, without the reasoning behind the killings, I lost interest.

While the film certainly kicks into gear during the last 25 minutes when Muhammad and Malvo finally make it to the Washington, D.C., area, it was a disappointment overall.  Isaiah Washington certainly gives a good performance, but it's not enough to lift the film from its rather boring laurels.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-