Making the transition from documentarian to narrative direction is
complicated, to say the least. Not everyone can do it. What works for one type
of film doesn't necessarily translate when the needs of Hollywood drama must be
met. Amy Berg is one of the best documentary filmmakers around, possibly ever,
when it comes to exploring the social impacts of unimaginable crimes. Every Secret Thing is her first stab at a dramatic
feature, and her natural instincts prove to be both a blessing and a curse,
making for a film that is occasionally gripping but uneven overall.
Perhaps the issues come not solely from
Berg's transition to narrative, but in that it's also adapted from Laura
Lippman's novel. Granted, that adaptation comes from renowned director Nicole
Holofcener (Enough Said, PleaseGive), but there's a distance between us and the characters that is never
bridged, despite some solid performances. The plot begins simply but unfolds
with broad reaching ramifications that span years, and Every Secret Thing is
about how years of guilt and shame can destroy a person's sense of self.
Recently released from juvenile hall, overweight and fame-obsessed Alice
Manning (Danielle Macdonald) and introverted Ronnie (Dakota Fanning) are trying
to fit back into their small, close-knit community. Years earlier they were
convicted of kidnapping and murdering a biracial baby for reasons still
unknown, and the townspeople aren't so quick to forgive. It doesn't help that
within a few days of their release another biracial child disappears, putting
the eye of suspicion right back on them.
Nothing is as simple as it appears. The
obvious questions pondering the girls' motivations and possible guilt in this
latest crime are asked but they are only just the beginning. A pair of
steadfast detectives (Elizabeth Banks and Nate Parker) takes on the case,
opening up old wounds that the town has yet to fully recover from. But at the
same time we learn more about Alice's upbringing by her overbearing,
slightly-psychotic mother (Diane Lane) who always liked Ronnie better. Alice
wanders the streets "looking for work" but is really off in her own
little world doing nothing, while Ronnie just wants to be left alone.
In her documentaries, Berg is able to play
with notions of race, gender, economic class, and more with considerable depth,
but she's forced to take some shortcuts here to cast certain characters as red
herrings. The missing child's interracial parents (played nicely by Common and
Sarah Sokolovic) are obviously on the lower end of the economic spectrum, and
thus shady enough to be suspects. Audiences will probably come to despise
Alice, or perhaps they'll suspect her right from the start. That seems to be
what Berg and Holofcener want, in order to make us examine our biases towards
physical beauty, but it would be more effective if Alice were a character we
could sympathize with. MacDonald's performance is refreshing in a way, in that
it doesn't ask for our pity. Alice is a total bitch, but we see in her a desperate
need for acceptance. It doesn't make us like her, though, not in the least.
Fanning is solid but doesn't get much to work with as Ronnie. Mostly she gets
to look solemn and speak in hushed tones. Lane uncharacteristically
miscalculates her unhinged performance, while it's good to see Banks in such an
understated role. She's better at playing serious than we've had a chance to
see before.
Interestingly, Berg shows a better grip on
dramatic pacing than Atom Egoyan, who recently turned the West Memphis Three
saga into a lousy narrative feature, Devil'sKnot. The film is competently shot, calculated in its precision, and
creates a heavy Fincher-esque cloud of suspicion and darkness. What Every Secret Thing lacks is a consistent narrative
that exposes these characters' deepest, darkest emotional underpinnings,
leaving us with an unsatisfying resolution to the mystery.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
