The Riddle
While poking around in the cellar of an old English pub, a journalist (Vinnie Jones) stumbles upon a novel that was penned by Charles Dickens but never published. The plot thickens when his discovery precedes a string of murders. But is there a connection? To find the answer, he must scour the centuries-old manuscript for clues and seek help from a mysterious tramp (Derek Jacobi) with murky origins.
Feedgeist
» Queued up by 24 people
skc 1124979 xsw 1924800 theduder67 mr. fancypants rlq 413894 justjason mhz 961470 Marty J. vjf 387148 Gibbsman PP 239269 GC 1639741 RaisedByWolves RevRagnarok waylonrobert jugwade DS 735209 R Fizzy Bachstar JohnnyCheezdawg MH!! Melsana JS 461320 leela42» Reviewed by 2 people
This movie was unlike anything I've seen recently. It's a murder mystery told with a backstory (The backstory being an unpublished Charles Dickens manuscript) featuring its own murder and blackmail. It reminds me strongly of the Children's TV series "Wishbone", in that characters in the Dickens story show up in The Riddle as well, to good effect. Unfortunately, there are no Jack Russell terriers in this movie, but there is an interesting story. It is obvious to me that this movie was made for English audiences - most everyone will have trouble wading through the accents (You feel like you need subtitles at times, you might even want to back up and repeat), and the murder mystery - while intriguing - is hard to follow at times. However, Vinnie Jones is the perfect straight man for this role. It's odd to see him take such a beating here, as we know him most often as the tough guy in his films, but it's satisfying to see him for once as an everyman running on a simple hunch. I am probably overrating this movie, and I feel like I would have liked it better had I been able to understand more of what was being said (Again, the thick accents are hard to grasp), however, the story sold me. It is a unique movie, definitely throwback, and because of the style of how it is shot - with two stories being told at once simultaneously - it's a very tough sell. It's worth a try though!- MCWHAMMER
I was looking forward to seeing how this film would tie the two story lines together. It was a major disappointment. There was nothing clever about it. I would consider it a cop-out. I enjoyed the scenes along the Thames River but the Charles Dickens story line was very grainy. I assume the filmmakers were trying to make that part of the picture look Victorian. It really looked like a bad old TV show. I never understood the murder of the woman found in the river and how it tied in to the rest of the plot. I must have missed something. I also cannot understand how someone would carry around an original priceless manuscript of Charles Dickens in his jacket and just read parts of it the pub or along the river while waiting for something to happen. This picture had scenes of greyhound dog racing which some may find objectionable. The movie was never shown in theaters or on TV. Over 4 million copies of the DVD were given away for free as an insert to a London Sunday newspaper. Two stars at best.
- Rascal