SummaryAfter witnessing a miracle, a young Latina woman (Ana de Armas) experiences strange things as a police detective (Keanu Reeves) searches for the truth behind his partner's death.
SummaryAfter witnessing a miracle, a young Latina woman (Ana de Armas) experiences strange things as a police detective (Keanu Reeves) searches for the truth behind his partner's death.
Asking far more questions than it could ever answer, Exposed ends on a note so flat and predictable that it undermines all that went before. But there are strange and memorable moments here, and a mood of eerie foreboding that’s hard to shake.
Keanu Reeves stars as a New York City detective out to investigate the death of his partner in the new film ‘Exposed.’
Reeves is Detective Scotty Galban who discovers that his former (and dead) police partner Detective Joel Cullen (Danny Hoch) was not the clean cop he was supposed to be. Cullen was a sodomist, a rapist, and in cahoots with several criminals in town. And Galban’s boss, Lieutenant Elway (Christopher McDonald) prefers not to have Cullen’s death investigated. You see, he was found in a subway station, with a stab wound in his back, and left for dead. Elway wants to close the murder investigation for the sake of Cullen’s wife Janine (Mira Sorvino) and his children for they stand to lose his pension if Galban continues the investigation and uncovers Cullen’s dirty doings. But Galban, of course, has demons of his own. His wife has died and his young son lives in Florida, for reasons not explained in the film. Meanwhile, Latina Isabel de la Cruz (Ana de Armas) might have been witness to the killing. She’s a young woman on her own mysterious journey. Her husband is in Iraq, and while she lives with his family, she’s seeing white ghosts appear out of nowhere. They are paranormal visions they might unlock some sort of secret in her life. Meanwhile her fiance’s younger brother Rocky (Gabe Vargas) is hanging around with the wrong crowd, led by Big Daddy Kane who is simply known around the hood as Black. And while Galban continues to investigate his partner’s murder against the wishes of the lieutenant, Isabel is on her own journey, while at the same time helping out a local girl who’s being abused, it’s a journey that takes her into a world that is strange and confusing, just like this movie.
‘Exposed’ has nothing to expose. It’s a title that doesn’t have anything to do with the movie. The film’s original title was going to be ‘Daughter of God,’ but it was recut after it’s distributor Lionsgate bought it to make it more of a cop thriller than a dark sadistic film. It’s original producer and director, Gee Malik Linton, had his name removed from the film’s credits (but is credited as a writer), so the the non-existant Declan Dale is credited as director. Lionsgate looks like they have tried to salvage something from their original purchase by chopping up Linton’s original unfinished film, but it’s a right confusing mess. What we have are two stories trying to merge into one movie, with Isabel’s storyline more compelling than Galban's. It’s got some good ideas going, with some great acting by some of the cast (but not Reeves), but at its best it’s a gripping thriller but a bit convoluted and confusing.
I would like to try the director's cut; this one is a post-production disaster.
If you say it is the worst film of the year, I won't deny that. There are more substandard films than this, but having a big name like Keanu Reeves, it is a great disappointment. It was written and directed by an inexperienced filmmaker. That was a big challenge the production house has taken, and in the end it's a failed attempt. But that was not the actual reason for the disaster.
Maybe the director's cut would have been better than this version. Because the actual film was a bilingual drama that reminds us classic cult films. But the production house decided to turn it into a money generating product. Due to that plan-B it went through the lots of cuts to turn it into a single story. In the end the 'lost in translation' happened. So that's answers why it was credited under a false director's name.
It is hard to give an opinion on the story, because it's a confusing narration due to imbalance in the genres which is originally meant for two different stories. The twist was taken straight out of another film, so that makes the conclusion was very silly. First of all, Keanu Reeves' character was next to nothing. I don't understand how he ended up in this project. If his side story was chopped off, it would have made a decent short film and vice versa. I am sure, 8 out of 10 would feel a letdown and the remaining 2 might like it or maybe fall into a confused state.
3½/10
In certain mutilated pictures, you can detect the lineaments of greatness: Consider Orson Welles’s “The Magnificent Ambersons.” Here, that’s not the case.
If it’s any consolation to the parties involved, Exposed could have ended up being worse; however, it’s unlikely that it could have been much better. Trainwreck-bad movie enthusiasts will be disappointed to find a film largely defined by its lack of energy, in which every scene seems to be stalling for time.
It’s hard to imagine how anything salvageable could have been made out of [Gee Malik Linton's] comically pretentious script with its heavily religious overtones and plotting that grows more ridiculous by the minute.
Betrayed by its own fragmented narrative.
While Knock-Knock was a mishap, Keanu Reeves still carries the buzz from John Wick, so it's peculiar to see his new movie flies under the radar. It's soon apparent that "Exposed" has a rather jumbled presentation. The movie uses multi perspective style and it does try to deliver heavy subject such as abuse, but it's ultimately too broken to create any appropriate connection.
The two perspectives are too messy, as though the screenplay or editing is done sloppily. Keanu's point of view is that of noir detective, although the investigation moves so slowly and erratically. Meanwhile Ana de Armas plays as a troubled wife who might just see some apparition. From the color tone, the pace and even the script, these two stories are utterly different.
It's not to say that there's not an artistic goal in mind, it could have dealt with mature theme well, however the jarring shift is confusing to say the least. It would jump from festive vibe, to brooding case and suddenly to what seems to be psychological thriller with metaphor. This is a really odd direction and it doesn't have to be such, it feels as though the movie tries to needlessly overreach.
Both the leads perform admirably, in some instances Ana de Armas looks amiable and Keanu Reeves still has his appealing presence. However, the plot is chaotic, there would be incredibly slow development and subplots, yet it would hasten abruptly in mere minutes. The few segments from other angles don't really pan out in the grand scheme, while its intended twist is hampered by over saturation of horror genre, which is odd to see in crime drama.
This kind of sudden change is not uncommon, some thriller movies shifted to more action atmosphere for casual audience or some action flicks would be altered to accommodate more famous stars. Still, the extreme shift of tone here doesn't have any appeal instead it's only a distraction.
"The Exposed" could have a surreal depth for narrative, yet it's a just a confusing mess that barely has any charm and even that small spark is muddle with messy production.
Skip it.
This has all the makings of a fascinating urban fantasy but a really bad edit makes it a fascinating mess.
I understand the Writer/Director took his name off the picture and I can't blame him. It makes no sense as released. The fantasy elements are dropped in favor of a dull cop thing that never gels.
Exposed is exposed definitely 100% without any doubt. If it wants a blanket, please tell it to be a better movie to enjoy and thus, making movies as of January 22nd not worth seeing and also forcing the user to get any game that was released on that same day instead.
Some films get very bad reviews but they dont deserve it, this on the other hand does. Keanu reeves couldnt have read the script, or if he did he must have been very very drunk when he agreed to take part in this farce. There are some scenes in this film so bad, and so pathetic you wonder whether they forgot or couldnt afford to hire an editor. Bad is an understatment. The director of this film shouldnt be allowed to make another... Thats how bad this is. If i could give it less than zero i would, and its lucky to get zero.