At the 82nd Academy Awards, an Argentine film called The Secret In Their Eyes won Best Foreign Language Film, besting the more-buzzed-about The White Ribbon and A Prophet. Those who watched the film following its surprise Oscar win discovered a unique crime thriller more concerned with people’s passions—be they watching sports, getting drunk, or tracking a murderer—than with gunplay or chase sequences (despite a one-take action scene that gives Children Of Men a run for its money). The Secret In Their Eyes quickly became one of those foreign films that American movie buffs could show to people who don’t like foreign films, given the accessible and tantalizing story. But said film buffs don’t have to do that anymore, because the movie is now in English and stars Julia Roberts.
The trailer for Secret In Their Eyes, written and directed by Captain Philips scribe Billy Ray, examines how FBI investigators Jess (Roberts) and Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and their District Attorney supervisor (Nicole Kidman) weather the brutal murder of Jess’s teenage daughter. The preview suggests that their best suspect gets away and that, some years later, Ray returns to Los Angeles after picking up the killer’s trail once again. Although it’s fun to bash remakes, this one doesn’t seem to be the turd that fans of the original movie might have feared. The remake appears well directed and scripted, and Roberts and Ejiofor look to be at the top of their game. Also, details of the central murder have changed somewhat from the original film, which could allow this remake a chance to explore its own passions.
Secret In Their Eyes hits theaters on October 23.