On DVD: Mar 29, 2016
Rating: R (for violence including a sexual assault, and for language)
Genre: Mystery & Suspense, Drama
Directed By: Declan Dale
Producers: Keanu Reeves, Gee Malik Linton, Robin Gurland
STARRING: Keanu Reeves, Ana de Armas
Runtime: 1 hr. 42 min.
[divider]Exposed is a dark film that defies definition and a clear category.  Isabel (Ana De Armas) is a beautiful, but troubled young woman whose life is as mysterious as the plot of this movie.  She seems to have a happy life, loving family, and a husband, Jose, serving in Iraq.  There is so much beauty in her world, but that is only on the surface. Dig deeper, and you will find sorrow and dark secrets.  The tagline for the movie is “Some secrets are better left buried.”  That is true with this movie. A great deal of darkness, and even more confusion.

Scotty Galban (Keanu Reeves) has a murderer to catch.  He’s a cop looking for the guy who killed his partner, Cullen.  You are led to believe that his partner is as dirty and messed up as his partner Galban is clean.  But, that doesn’t keep Scotty from digging around the trash of the city to find justice for his partner, and peace for himself.  Mira Sorvino is one of my favorite actresses, and here she plays the grieving wife of the dead cop.  She wants justice as long  as it doesn’t upset the apple cart of her life and memories of her husband.  Nobody wants Galban to dig too deep, because they know nothing good is hidden below.

This is a difficult movie to watch, and impossible to say I enjoyed.  There is a great deal of Spanish in the movie, and I recommend watching it with subtitles on.  Exposed envelopes you in the darkness of the underbelly of crime, murder, and revenge. The film creates a sad world with little hope of joy or redemption. The movie was directed by Declan Dale, which is a pseudonym for Gee Malik Linton, who no longer wished to have his name associated with the movie.  This tells you something important.  After being purchased by Lionsgate, it was significantly re-cut to produce a completely different film than was originally intended. I would like to see that film, but it doesn’t exit.  The original screenplay intended to focus on the character of Isabel, child abuse, and the madness it produces.  Instead, the studio and editor focused on Keanu Reeves to create a standard cop thriller. But, it just wasn’t there, and  I think they failed in their effort.

It’s hard to recommend this movie, because it’s a bit of a mess, frustrating and unsatisfying.  There’s a great deal of downright creepy in this world with very little, if any, redemption.  Keanu brings his minimilist acting style, which brings very little to the table.  It wasn’t hard to figure out where they were going with this film, or why.  The signs are there.  But, I think there are better ways to get there, and I was happy to seem the movie train come into the subway station.