Dark Crimes
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Dark Crimes'' (originally released in film festivals before 2018 as ''True Crimes'') is a 2016
crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
directed by Alexandros Avranas and written by
Jeremy Brock Jeremy Brock MBE (born 1959) is a British writer and director whose works include the screenplays '' Mrs Brown'', ''Driving Lessons'', ''The Last King of Scotland'', '' Charlotte Gray'', and '' The Eagle''. Brock has also written two plays for ...
. The film was based on a 2008 article in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' by
David Grann David Elliot Grann (born March 10, 1967) is an American journalist, a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and a best-selling author. His first book, '' The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon,'' was published by D ...
titled "True Crime: A Postmodern Murder Mystery", which was an inspiration for the first movie title. The film stars Jim Carrey in the lead role,
Agata Kulesza Agata Kulesza-Figurska (; born 27 September 1971) is a Polish film, television and stage actress, and a member of the Polish Film Academy.
,
Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song " Lemo ...
,
Kati Outinen Anna Katriina "Kati" Outinen (born 17 August 1961) is a Finnish actress who has often played leading female roles in Aki Kaurismäki's films. Outinen was born in Helsinki. Having studied under Jouko Turkka during his "reign" of drama studies i ...
,
Zbigniew Zamachowski Zbigniew Zamachowski (; born 17 July 1961) is a Polish actor. Life and career He was born on 17 July 1961 in Brzeziny near Łódź. Zamachowski graduated from the actor's faculty of the National Film School in Łódź. He began his acting caree ...
, and
Marton Csokas Marton Paul Csokas (, hu, Csókás Márton Pál; born 30 June 1966) is a Hungarian-New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with ...
, and follows a detective who notices similarities between a
cold case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...
murder and a best-selling novel. Producer
Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, '' The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several film ...
had ''True Crimes'' in development since 2010.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began on 12 November 2015 in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and ended on 13 December 2015. It held its premiere at the
Warsaw Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...
on 12 October 2016, and had a limited theatrical release in only a few countries, such as the United States, in 2018. The
Lionsgate Films Lionsgate Films (formerly known as Cinépix Film Properties) is an American film production and film distribution studio, headquartered in Santa Monica and founded in Canada, and is the flagship division of Lionsgate Entertainment. It is the la ...
home entertainment division, Lionsgate Unlocked, released ''Dark Crimes'' on Blu-ray and DVD on 31 July 2018. On 21 May 2018, the company revealed a new trailer for the film to promote this home video release. Despite some praise for the cast, critics panned ''Dark Crimes'' for its pacing, overly downcast tone, and objectionable presentation of abused women. It is one of the worst-reviewed films of 2018, holding a 0% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
.


Synopsis

Tadek is a detective who takes on a case involving the murder of a businessman. To his and everyone's surprise the case is identical to a character's murder in a recently published novel by a man named Kozlov. While the crime appears to be an open and shut case, Tadek discovers a darker secret.


Cast

* Jim Carrey as Tadek *
Marton Csokas Marton Paul Csokas (, hu, Csókás Márton Pál; born 30 June 1966) is a Hungarian-New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with ...
as Kozlov *
Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song " Lemo ...
as Kasia *
Agata Kulesza Agata Kulesza-Figurska (; born 27 September 1971) is a Polish film, television and stage actress, and a member of the Polish Film Academy.
as Marta *
Kati Outinen Anna Katriina "Kati" Outinen (born 17 August 1961) is a Finnish actress who has often played leading female roles in Aki Kaurismäki's films. Outinen was born in Helsinki. Having studied under Jouko Turkka during his "reign" of drama studies i ...
as Malinowska *
Zbigniew Zamachowski Zbigniew Zamachowski (; born 17 July 1961) is a Polish actor. Life and career He was born on 17 July 1961 in Brzeziny near Łódź. Zamachowski graduated from the actor's faculty of the National Film School in Łódź. He began his acting caree ...
as Lukasz * Danuta Kowalska as Kozlov's Mother


Development

An article from ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' published on 29 September 2010 revealed
Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, '' The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several film ...
's company RatPac Entertainment was developing a film named ''True Crimes'' with Focus Features. On 7 April 2011, ''
Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...
'' reported that the script was written by
Jeremy Brock Jeremy Brock MBE (born 1959) is a British writer and director whose works include the screenplays '' Mrs Brown'', ''Driving Lessons'', ''The Last King of Scotland'', '' Charlotte Gray'', and '' The Eagle''. Brock has also written two plays for ...
, and
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
was "circling" the project. On 7 June 2013, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' revealed Focus Features dropped out in 2012, and Christoph Waltz would play Jacek Wroblewski. On 14 May 2015, ''
TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...
'' announced that Waltz was replaced with Jim Carrey for Wroblewski and that '' Miss Violence'' (2013) director Alexandros Avranas would direct ''True Crimes''; David Gerson, Ewa Puszczynska, and Michael Aguilar were also revealed to be producers.


Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
on the film began on 12 November 2015 in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, wrapping up on 13 December 2015. After filming completed, Carrey kept the beard he grew for his role while presenting the
73rd Golden Globe Awards The 73rd Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2015. It was broadcast live on January 10, 2016, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST by NBC. ...
, while garnered several
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
reaction posts. Although the filming location and most of the crew of ''True Crimes'' was Polish, the film was an international production due to its actors coming from various countries, such as Canada (Carrey), Britain (Gainsbourg), Romania (Ivanov), and Finland (Outinen); and some of its producers being American and Canadian. Due to the Poland setting of the subject of the ''New Yorker'' story, producers David Gerson and Kasia Nabiałczyk contacted the biggest figure of the film industry in Poland, Opus Film, to help on ''True Crimes''; the company was most known for '' Ida'' (2015), a film that, only months before ''True Crimes'' began principal photography, won an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. According to ''
Culture.pl Culture.pl is a large web portal devoted to Culture of Poland, Polish culture. It was founded by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in March 2001. Written in Polish, English and Russian, the site promotes the work of Polish artists around the world and ...
'', this plus the cast and crew of the film coming from various countries indicated a re-interest in Polish cinema worldwide. Polish film journalist Darek Kuźma, writing a feature upon ''True Crimes''' 2016 premiere at Warsaw, reported "opportunities in the rapidly developing Polish film industry, with its quality casts and crews, its variety of locations that can stand in for almost every part of the world, and its growing number of regional film commmissions." The
Polish Film Institute Polish Film Institute ( Polish: Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej ) is a state legal entity established in 2005 to support the development of cinematography.http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20051321111/U/D20051111Lj.pdf The Institu ...
contributed €446,000 to ''True Crimes''' €4 million budget. Explained Ewa Puszczyńska, who attached the Polish Film Institute as well as the Kraków Film Commission for financing, "We’ve made a film with American producers, and international stars, for a fraction of what it would have cost in the US or Western Europe."


Release

The first stills of ''True Crimes'' were released on 27 November 2015. The film had its world premiere at the
Warsaw Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...
on 12 October 2016, under the name ''True Crimes''. Saban Films picked up the distribution rights for North America on 4 April 2017. On 25 January 2018, Jim Carrey announced that the film's title had been changed to ''Dark Crimes'' and that the North American theatrical release would likely occur in April.
Myrkur Myrkur is a Danish black metal band led by singer Amalie Bruun. Myrkur is a solo project within the genre of second-wave black metal. Initially, the real-life identity of the person behind the project was kept unknown. Her identity has since be ...
's song "Skøgen Skulle Dø" was used in the trailer. The U.S. theatrical release was later announced as 18 May 2018, with an earlier
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
exclusive release on 19 April. Internationally, ''Dark Crimes'' only ran for one week in Colombia, Italy, and Hungary; and only for a week longer in Portugal. ''Dark Crimes'' was released to
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
in Canada on 17 July 2018, the United States on 31 July 2018, Sweden on 30 January 2019, Italy on 7 February 2019, France on 2 May 2019, and Germany on 14 June 2019. ''Dark Crimes'' also garnered DVD releases in the United States, issued on 31 July 2018; and Taiwan, on 28 June 2019.
Wal-mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
exclusively sold versions of the Blu-ray that were also packed with a DVD.


Critical response

Before the release of ''True Crimes'', sources such as ''The Playlist'' and ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' were excited for the project due to the involvements of Avranas, Gainsbourg, and Kulesza; but were a bit skeptical due to Carrey's previous involvement in a dark thriller, ''
The Number 23 ''The Number 23'' is a 2007 American thriller film written by Fernley Phillips and directed by Joel Schumacher. Jim Carrey stars as a man who becomes obsessed with the 23 enigma once he reads about it in a strange book that seemingly mirrors his ...
'' (2007), which had an underwhelming reception. Marshall Lemon, responding to the November 2015 still revelations, wrote Carrey "absolutely looks the part," and "the visual style is also reminiscent of shows like ''
True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...
'' which transformed actors like
Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...
and
Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...
into surprising dramatic presences. If ''True Crimes'' can do the same for Carrey, it might just be worth keeping an eye on." On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 0%, based on reviews from 37 critics, with an average rating of 2.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Dark Crimes'' is a rote, unpleasant thriller that fails to parlay its compelling true story and a committed Jim Carrey performance into even modest chills."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigned a normalized rating average score of 24 out of 100 based on 14 critics, and their editorial stated "this Polish-set but English-language entry stars a bearded, accented, against-type (and, apparently, against-ability) Jim Carrey in a bleak, violent crime thriller described by critics as "misogynistic," "depressing," "ugly," and "abysmal."" It was the eighth lowest-ranking 2018 film on the site. Reviews targeted the film's overly "gloomy and unexciting" tone, and noted that ruined the film's potential plot; and the pacing's slow and excessively-tense build, which Owen Gleiberman of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' found especially a problem with details of the mystery being "all far too obvious." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' called the last act its best part simply for having far more action than the previous sequences. ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' summarized that the film replaced the "source material’s appealing elements and characterizations with overcomplicated thriller clichés and humorless prurience," and ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' critic Witney Seibold criticized its predictable plot, as "it can be seen in just about every episode of ''
Law & Order: Criminal Intent ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...
''." The film's exploitative scenes involving physical and sexual abuse towards women also turned several critics off, one critic from '' Slant Magazine'' describing them as "blatantly
misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...
." The film's technical aspects were divisively received. ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' summarized the directing as "leaden and one-note in its attempt to imitate the bleakness of Swedish and Norwegian crime imports in an indifferent Eastern European setting; the sky is always overcast and the characters are all dressed like they’re on their way to a funeral." ''
The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
'' panned the "ugly, sterile sets" and poor photography; ''
SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards ...
'' called the shot compositions gimmicky; while Oktay Kozak Ege opined the "aesthetically repetitive" visuals made tension sequences more unbearable to watch. However, ''
Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
'' writer Randall Colburn stated "Avranas' muted, sterile style pops with a few flourishes, mainly in his knack for cultivating a truly unsettling aura around the starkness of the film’s depravity." He also praised the use of POV shots for "creating a curious sense of alienation, as if one is both inside the film but outside of its truth, looking in at the larger reality." Luke W. Thompson of ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' applauded the editing and directing for matching the mood of the story, and David Lewis of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'' honored its "impressive" production design. Opinions towards Carrey's performance ranged from positive and the film's only redeeming factor to his worst-ever dramatic performance. In addition to several criticisms towards his fake Polish accent, Gleiberman wrote that "Carrey broods and stares like an actor who’s out to muffle any hint of his natural spirit by swathing it in poker-faced gloom." The character of Tadek was also criticized as "underwritten" to the point of being "an ordinary person doing his ordinary job ..even if the circumstances are extraordinary." Colburn explained, "Tadek is a character written to be devoid of charm or humor and, as such, Carrey has no opportunities to draw upon the anxious, springy energy of '' Man on the Moon'' or the desperate, aching despair of ''
Eternal Sunshine ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (also simply known as ''Eternal Sunshine'') is a 2004 American Romance film, romantic Science fiction film, science fiction Drama (film and television), drama film written by Charlie Kaufman, directed ...
''." ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' wrote the character was too "empty" for someone supposedly obsessed with the case he was solving. The supporting actors, such as Csokas, Outinen, Ivanov, and Gainsbourg were positively commented on; some critics found Csokas to be the film's best actor, Thompson explaining that he "strikes the right balance of legitimate rage and pretentious self-importance that you could imagine youngsters embracing." However, Colburn felt that Csokas' "icky vein of cruelty", Gainsbourg's "compelling bloodletting", and Wieckiewicz's "pulp paperback" style contradicted the tone of Carrey's performance, resulting in "imbalance that serves to sink the film."


References


External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, true_crimes 2016 films 2016 crime drama films 2016 crime thriller films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American police detective films Crime films based on actual events English-language Polish films Polish crime drama films Polish crime thriller films Films based on newspaper and magazine articles Films set in Kraków Films set in Poland Films shot in Kraków Thriller films based on actual events 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language crime drama films English-language crime thriller films