The Rook

Moody and mysterious (or perhaps the term is "willfully obtuse"), this stylized, philosophical murder mystery is unquestionably a beautifully realized vision. If only it were clear that Eran Palatnik's feature film debut is genuinely complex and thought provoking, rather than the pretentious twaddle it frequently resembles. Set in an alternate past (or perhaps an alternate future -- there's no real telling) made up of mixed and matched snippets of the past and present, it revolves around the dour figure of John Abbott (Martin Donovan), a government investigator who's been sent on a mission to the remote town of Sutheridge. A woman has been murdered, and a curious ...