"Spinning Man" (R, 1:40) is a drama-mystery-thriller directed by Swedish television director Simon Kaijser and written by Matthew Aldrich ("Cleaner", "Coco") based on a novel by George Harrar. The film received a limited release in U.S. theaters on April 6, 2018, the same day it was available via VOD.
Golden Globe nominee and Emmy winner Guy Pearce plays Evan Birch, a college professor with a history of having affairs with his students... most recently, an intelligent and beautiful coed named Anna (Alexandra Shipp). Evan teaches a class called Philosophy of Language and many of the conversations he has involve word play and/or abstract philosophical concepts - including when he talks with his young daughter, Zelda (Eliza Pryor), his longsuffering wife, Ellen (Oscar nominee Minnie Driver)... or the police.
Golden Globe nominee Pierce Brosnan is Detective Malloy, who is investigating the disappearance of a student named Joyce (Odeya Rush). When details of Professor Birch's extracurricular romantic history surface, along with information about his possible connection with the missing girl, Malloy naturally focuses on Evan as his prime suspect... but getting straight answers from the good professor proves... challenging. Even as the questions about the young woman's fate and whether Evan has anything to do with this case are answered, other questions emerge about the professor's past, present... and future.
"Spinning Man" is an unusual and frustrating film. The use of language, not just by the characters, but almost as a character in its own right, is sometimes clever, but too often annoying. The plot is fairly unpredictable, but the answers the story gives us are a combination of surprising, open-ended and... yes, annoying (especially regarding the symbolism referenced in the title of the film and revealed as it ends). The film is short on entertainment value and even shorter on meaning. "C-"
Golden Globe nominee and Emmy winner Guy Pearce plays Evan Birch, a college professor with a history of having affairs with his students... most recently, an intelligent and beautiful coed named Anna (Alexandra Shipp). Evan teaches a class called Philosophy of Language and many of the conversations he has involve word play and/or abstract philosophical concepts - including when he talks with his young daughter, Zelda (Eliza Pryor), his longsuffering wife, Ellen (Oscar nominee Minnie Driver)... or the police.
Golden Globe nominee Pierce Brosnan is Detective Malloy, who is investigating the disappearance of a student named Joyce (Odeya Rush). When details of Professor Birch's extracurricular romantic history surface, along with information about his possible connection with the missing girl, Malloy naturally focuses on Evan as his prime suspect... but getting straight answers from the good professor proves... challenging. Even as the questions about the young woman's fate and whether Evan has anything to do with this case are answered, other questions emerge about the professor's past, present... and future.
"Spinning Man" is an unusual and frustrating film. The use of language, not just by the characters, but almost as a character in its own right, is sometimes clever, but too often annoying. The plot is fairly unpredictable, but the answers the story gives us are a combination of surprising, open-ended and... yes, annoying (especially regarding the symbolism referenced in the title of the film and revealed as it ends). The film is short on entertainment value and even shorter on meaning. "C-"