The Oxford Murders (2008)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.2/10   

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Escritores:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (writer)
Álex de la Iglesia (screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

18 enero 2008 (Spain)

Género:

Crimen | Romance | Suspenso

Plot:

At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try and stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols. |

Plot Keywords:

Student | Oxford | Murder | University Professor | Female Nudity

Premios:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Is this supposed to be a joke?

Reparto

Elijah Wood	...	Martin
John Hurt	...	Arthur Seldom
Leonor Watling	...	Lorna
Julie Cox	...	Beth
Burn Gorman	...	Podorov
Anna Massey	...	Mrs. Eagleton
Jim Carter	...	Inspector Petersen
Alan David	...	Mr. Higgins
Dominique Pinon	...	Frank
Tim Wallers	...	Defence Lawyer
James Weber-Brown	...	Doctor
Ian East	...	Howard Green
Charlotte Asprey	...	Mrs. Howard Green
Alex Cox	...	Kalman
Tom Frederic	...	Ludwig Wittgenstein

También conocida como:

Crimes à Oxford (France)
Los crímenes de Oxford (Spain: Castilian title)
Oxford Crimes (Spain) (working title)
Los crímenes de Oxford (Argentina) [es]

Duración:

108 min

País:

Spain | UK | France

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby Digital

Clasificación:

Spain:13 | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | Germany:16 | Finland:K-13 | Netherlands:12

Locaciones de Filmación:

London, England, UK

Compañía:

Eurimages

Trivialidades:

Michael Caine was approached by director Álex de la Iglesia to play the leading role. Jeremy Irons was also considered for this part that, ultimately, went to John Hurt.

Errores:

Continuidad: After Prof. Wilkes finishes his presentation of his solution to Bormat's Last Theorem, the writing on the blackboard behind him changes.

Is this supposed to be a joke?

Well that was my principal thought when I was watching this epitome of mindless drivels with my jaws widening in amazement.

Alex de la Iglesia is one of my favorite directors, and if his films may not always have been wonderful, they were least entertaining for their quirky sense of humor. Not only is this humor painfully missing from this expensive shipwreck of a movie, everything else is missing as well - believable characters, a plot line, acting of some sort, and most painfully of all, suspense.

That's rather hard to explain, as all the essentials are provided for - a solid novel, a huge budget, talented actors. But somehow none of this is being worked into a story, like the ingredients of a meal being served on different plates, and how this could have possibly come about provides for the real mysteries of this film.

Mystery 1: One would assume that some people involved with this movie would have a slight brush of knowledge of mathematics or at least been to university. Why then is it that the depiction of Oxford (sic) is straight out of a teen movie, with lascivious bimbos ready to fool around at every plot corner? Why are the scientific dialogues void of even a hint of sophistication, and sound like the fill-in lines of a porn flick? Why are scientists all crazy lunatics à la Frankenstein and not slightly more credible bores? Mystery 2: Elijah Wood is a fine actor, but there is one thing that anybody with eyes in his head should never cast him for: an erotic interest. Consequently the carnal desire he is supposed to inspire appears involuntarily comical, and the scenes where his wimpy frame is displayed are likely to induce a desire to throw up. Were there no test screenings? Mystery 3: When you have a shaky cast and not much of a clue where your movie is supposed to go, shouldn't one focus at least a bit on the thrill, like with editing and a bit of sensational settings? Instead we have a fairly linear plot line with tons of sidetracks leading nowhere, adding to an ever accelerating avalanche of disappointment.

The movie feels mostly like one of its key elements: a costly, sadistic experiment as to see how many people can possibly sit through this ordeal. Remains the questions of the whodunit: who is responsible for this mess, which may very well be called an entertainment homicide?