Courier at the movies – A kind of murder

A Kind of Murder is a psychological thriller set in early 1960s New York.

Director, Andy Goddard, superbly captures the imagery of that period with the most obvious mark being the fact that everyone smokes and heavily too – even in cinemas!
While the start may be slow, this murder-mystery builds up into a shocking climax.

Walter Stackhouse, (Patrick Wilson), is a rich architect and part-time short story crime writer, married to Clara (Jessica Biel) – who is beautiful but psychologically damaged.

Walter finds himself too fascinated with the murder of a woman at a bus stop – a fascination that sees him entwined with the chief suspect, the murdered woman’s husband, bookshop owner, Marty Kimble, played brilliantly in an understated manner by Eddie Marsden.

Walter sees his life spiralling out of control – a bit like Bonfire of the Vanities – and he also becomes obsessed with alluring blonde club singer, Ellie Briess (Haley Bennett), Ambitious Homicide detective Corby (Vincent Kartheiser who I think plays a great role), is on the trail of Mr Kimble and then turns his abrasive attentions to Walter after Clara is found dead. Corby tries to link Kimble and Walter to both deaths and a string of lies sees Walter becoming increasingly isolated.

We cannot give away the ending, obviously, but lovers of good old fashioned crime movies (the screenplay is based on a Patricia Highsmith novel) will agree that this is a clever movie that I would recommend.

Seven out of ten