Coveted as a music video extraordinaire to all the big name singers of the twenty-twenties, it seems Grant Singer has decided to spread his directorial wings to a different genre. Reptile is Singer’s debut effort as a feature film director – a whodunnit film noir with a splash of levity. It stars an equally foreboding Benicio del Toro as Tom Nichols, a police detective with a dark past, and is supported by Alicia Silverstone, Justin Timberlake, Eric Bogosian, and Ato Essandoh amongst others.
Tom Nichols is assigned to investigate the murder of a woman, Summer Elswick – the girlfriend of Will Grady (Timberlake), a wealthy realtor. Grady says they were to be married but couldn’t because Summer was still married to her estranged husband Sam. Tom follows the clues which appear with the usual twists and turns, revealing an intricate web of community connections, hidden secrets and dead ends.
Supporting him through his various suspicions in his ongoing investigation and his increasing frustration with his lack of progress is his wife Judy (Silverstone) who is in on all the details and gives Tom alternative theories and avenues to consider. There are no Chinese walls in this household it seems.
The plot twists are aplenty, and with pacing rather slow, particularly in the lead up to the final act, a run time of 136 minutes seems unnecessarily long. Thankfully, the climax is reasonably thrilling, albeit slightly predictable.
For a feature film debut though, Singer should be commended. He checks all the boxes for a fun crime thriller and adds some refreshing humour to lighten the dark setting. Interestingly, he manages to use this comedy to cut through some of the tension in a manner which doesn’t come across as trite or misplaced, which would not be easy to achieve. It has to be said, the score and sound are close to perfect. Singer’s extensive directing experience in the music video genre shows. His appreciation of a score’s ability to elevate key moments is consistently notable throughout the film.
Overall, Reptile makes for entertaining popcorn viewing. It also leaves one interested to see what Singer brings next to the screen should he try his hand with feature films again.
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