Exposed review: Sadly squandered by the studios desire to create a film that would rather rely on star power than plot devices to hook an audience.
Exposed review by Kate Hughes, February 2016. Exposed has had somewhat of a rough ride making in onto the cinema screen, the director parted ways with the film and Declan Dale is a fake guise. Much like Alan Smithee was used for films that a director has disowned, Dale too is a pseudonym. Originally Exposed started life as Daughter of God and was a surreal bi-lingual drama in the vein of Pan’s Labyrinth. However the studio bought the film under the belief that it was a Keanu Reeves police thriller. In a bid to draw audiences in, the story was re-worked to focus more on Reeves’ detective, it was this change that led to the director disowning the film.
Knowing this information one would assume that the film is dire and unwatchable, yet this is not the case. It most certainly suffers from schizophrenic narratives, which detract from what could have been a really worthwhile movie. Exposed is comprised of two competing stories, focusing on either one would make for a great film but the parallel story telling of both is sloppy and distracting, and leaves the viewer unable to fully commit to either one.
Last year Keanu Reeves made one hell of a comeback in the simply stunning John Wick. The film took everyone by surprise and earned itself a sequel. It was around the same time as Wick that Keanu made Exposed. The first half of the film features Reeves as a police detective investigating the death of his corrupt partner. The second features his Knock Knock co-star Ana De Armas as a religious young Latino woman who miraculously becomes pregnant.
Now I’m normally the first one to sing the praises of Mr Reeves, but this is not one of his best moments and sadly lives up to the mantra that when he’s good he’s good, but when he’s bad its painful. The part was originally offered out to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman but for obvious reasons could not be fulfilled, and Keanu stepped into the breach. Unfortunately the result of Reeves behind the wheel of the character is a lot of brooding expressions, the occasional roughing up of a perp, and a really awkward sex scene with his dead partner’s widow. His section of story is confusing, slow and never really seems to climax. Whilst last year’s John Wick landed with a bang, Exposed is sadly much more of a muted splutter.
On the other side of the story is a plot revolving around De Armas’ young and devout Isabel who finds herself miraculously pregnant. Her story is definitely the more compelling of the two and weaves an intricate web of misdirection and misunderstandings. De Armas’ is brilliant in the role and it’s refreshing to see a foreign actress allowed to act in her native tongue. It is a shame the the two plots are not more cohesive as the combination of their narratives if done right, and possibly were before the re-cut, could have resulted in something special.
Exposed has a lot of potential but its sadly squandered by the studios desire to create a film that would rather rely on star power than plot devices to hook an audience.
Exposed review by Kat Hughes, February 2016.
Exposed is released in select UK cinemas from Friday 26th February.
