The Whisper Man, Short Takes on other cinematic topics

The Kids Aren’t Alright

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.  However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.  (Note: Anything in bold blue below [or near purple] is a link to something in the above title or the review.)

My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)

However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.

                            The Whisper Man (James Ashcroft)

                                             rated R   114 min.

Here’s the trailer:

        (Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; 

        activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy).  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

WHAT HAPPENS: (This is another very busy week cutting drastically into my blogging time so if you’d like more plot details [including Spoilers] please visit this site.)  In Garretton, NJ police Detective Amanda Beck (Michelle Monaghan) leads a crew searching for missing boy Neil Spencer; instead they find the body of another boy raising concerns about the reappearance of the Whisper Man (Michael Keaton), Frank Carter, who killed several children years ago after forcing them to record audio cassette messages to their parents as a further torture, but he’s been in prison ever since, captured by former Detective Peter Willis (Robert De Niro).  Beck wants Willis to talk to Carter about this, yet he refuses as the long-ago case has haunted him ever since especially as he was never able to find one of the victims, even as a new cassette is sent to the cops with Neil’s forced message.  Then we get a parallel plot when successful crime novelist Tom Kennedy (Adam Scott), along with shy 8-year-old son Jake (Acston Luca Porto), moves back to Garretton where he met his now-deceased wife; they move into an enormous rental house where we have easily-disturbing scenes of night and rain, increasing Jake’s inner-retreat as he talks of an imaginary friend, a young girl in a blue sweater; a further complication reveals Tom as Peter’s son, but they’re distant, with Tom still angry about neglect by his work-focused, alcoholic-at-the-time father.  Tom has to seek Dad’s help, though, when Jake disappears leading Peter to work with Amanda, as Tom learns the previous tenant of his house was Dominic Barnett (John Grigley), Frank’s accomplice in his crimes.  

 

 Peter finds Frank’s been visited in prison by Norman Collins (Hamish Linklater) who collects serial-killer memorabilia, was found by Tom rummaging around in Tom’s basement, with the next twist being a tape arriving from Jake’s captor.  ⇒Tom and Peter search the basement, find the skeletal remains of Peter’s missing victim along with murdered Barnett.  Amanda and Peter realize Norman killed Barnett, but he commits suicide to avoid prison.  Peter realizes the new Whisper Man is Frank’s son, trying to gain his father’s respect; Amanda stumbles upon him though he stabs her, takes Jake to his own home where he’s confronted by Tom and Peter who’s fatally stabbed as Francis Jr. (Owen Teague) is subdued.  In prison Frank’s allowed to visit his son but chokes him to death as his long-ago victims were just substitutes for his hate toward Junior.  All’s finally quiet with Tom and Jake as Tom looks through old photos, finds one of his wife as a girl in a blue sweater.⇐ 

SO WHAT? As my COVID-19 concerns continue to be relevant with a reported increase in the virus’ presence in my San Francisco Bay area I’m continuing to stay away from crowded movie theaters even though I want to see such intriguing fare as The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan) and Spider-Man: Brand-New Day (Destin Daniel Cretton)—both of which are cleaning up at the box-office with the former at $1.6 billion globally, the latter $2.3 billion worldwide, or even Coyote vs. Acme (Dave Green) with $20.4 million globally after just one weekend—instead searching for (at least) potential options on streaming, with my subscription to Netflix bringing constant announcements of what they acquired from theatrical releases or what they financed themselves, which is what brought me to The Whisper Man, which I found to be quite watchable with a couple of interesting surprises in the later scenes although the OCCU and I are very far apart (more on that in the next section below), with further encouragement to be in the critical minority here from San Francisco Chronicle guru Mick LaSalle, whom I’m in agreement with as he reviewed it last Friday as it debuted on Netflix: “ ‘The Whisper Man’ is a throwback to that era of vintage thrillers. It’s grim and lurid, with its own scary chained-up psycho offering questionable advice from inside a prison, like Hannibal Lecter. […] The retrospective feeling is more than simply welcome. It’s appropriate, because ‘The Whisper Man’ is all about a string of copycat crimes reprising murders from decades before. In that sense, ‘The Whisper Man’ is a nostalgic movie about a nostalgic serial killer.”  So true!

 

 Despite the OCCU’s lack of enthusiasm I wanted to see this movie if for no other reason than to watch marvelous old-pros De Niro and Keaton, with their 2 shared scenes alone worth the viewing investment.  Many in writing about The Whisper Man make reference to multi-Oscar-winner The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991) which is vaguely reasonable, but there’s not enough true overlap to imply even an homage, although I don’t know what’s in Alex North’s 2019 novel of the movie’s same name, but if you'd want to read much more about it from Ashcroft’s viewpoint go here.

 

BOTTOM LINE FINAL COMMENTS: As noted above, the OCCU’s not collectively-enthusiastic about The Whisper Man given that the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are only 46% while the Metacriltic average score is surprisingly higher but only at 52%.  Still, there are some who liked at roughly the same level I did such as Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times (MC 80; my 3½ stars is 70% of my maximum 5): “In the race to replace the notion of  ‘TV movie’ with streaming-only films that could, in another era, compete at the box office, ‘The Whisper Man’ is as good as it gets. […] Eschewing big expositional monologues (or, thank heaven, flashbacks), Jacoby and Palmer allude to rather than lay out the details of Tom and Pete’s estrangement, the horrors of the original Whisper Man case and the origins of Jake’s imaginary friend, who is visible only to Jake and the audience. And in the hands of these performers, less is very much more.” Sounds OK to me.

 

  But an overwhelming number of reviews are more like U.K.’s Tim Robey of The Telegraph (MC 20; I'd have to be at 1 star to match that): “If you’re going to shoot in some dreary suburbs from a script that barely functions, there’s no point splashing out on such an expensive cast: it’s like sticking wagyu in the microwave. […] Given his trade, Tom seems weirdly incurious about a local spate of killings […] Nothing makes sense. […] The young victims’ drawings, with big sad-face heads, feel like outright parodies of what a child in captivity might draw. [¶] Throughout, De Niro trudges around searching, in vain, for an interesting scene. It’s a dingy waste of his time — and ours.”  At least I didn’t have to argue with myself about what to choose for my usual ending Musical Metaphor device, something I remembered from long ago, Dore Previn’s "Mister Whisper" (1970 On My Way To Where? album), where the singer tells of a powerful intrusion in her brain (based on Dore’s stay in a psychiatric hospital where she was given electroshock “therapy” after her famed musician husband, Andre Previn, left her for Mia Farrow) which isn’t the same situation as in The Whisper Man, but in both stories the whisperer takes some kind of command over a specific person or an entire community; in the song she says "Mister Whisper’s / Here again / He’s back / In his apartment / In my head […] I think/ I can control him / But instead / Mister Whisper / Takes control / Guides my heart / And rides my soul,” which resonates with me regarding Frank & Frank Jr.'s acts in Garretton.

       

SHORT TAKES

                

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

 

We encourage you to visit the Summary of Two Guys Reviews for our past posts* (scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list).  Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage.  If you’d like to Like us on Facebook (yes?) please visit our Facebook page.  We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us!  Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post.  You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us there in order to comment (FB procedures: frequently perplexing mysteries for us aged farts).

 

*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.

 

If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please 

use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.

          

OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER (although Google Chrome usually is decent also); OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.

         

Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 127,519.  (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.)  Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):

Mother Mary plus Short Takes on other cinematic topics

Intriguing But Weird as Hell

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.  However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.  (Note: Anything in bold blue below [or near purple] is a link to something in the above title or the review.)

My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)

However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.

     Mother Mary (David Lowery)   rated R    112 min. 

Here’s the trailer:

        (Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; 

        activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy).  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

WHAT HAPPENS: (This has been yet another one of those weeks where other tasks—largely dental work [maybe my parents had a better idea with false teeth than I’d ever realized]—actively cut into my blogging time so if you want a lot more info about plot details please go here.)  Mother Mary (her stage name; I never caught her real one if it was even there to catch; anyway, she’s played by Anne Hathaway) is a famous pop singer in the vein of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift (Which leads to original songs by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX, and FKA Twigs—none of whom I know much of anything about musically; surprised? However, you can find Hathaway singing these songs on the Mother Mary: Greatest Hits album), but her career’s been put on hold due to an accident suffered on stage.  As she’s ready for a huge comeback she’s nervous, decides what she needs for performance success is a new dress designed by her former collaborator/now successful artist in her own right, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), except they had a bad falling-out years ago when Sam felt she wasn’t getting proper recognition for Mary’s emerging success; since then she’s not even listened to Mary’s music but somehow agrees to come up with something by Sunday (even as it’s Thursday now).  Both women are aware of a ghost that appears as flowing red cloth, a spirit which seems to have possessed Mary.  ⇒She then agrees to a ritual with Sam as the 2 women attempt to exorcise the ghost, which finally happens when Mary uses Sam’s shears to cut open her own chest allowing the spirit to leave her body, collapsing into a pile of red cloth which Sam uses to make Mary’s dress for her triumphant show, with Sam in the joyful crowd, that very night.⇐

SO WHAT? If you just read my short summary above you might think there’s a fairly smooth transition from the first part of this film where Mary’s trying to reconnect with Sam—it’s difficult, as her former close ally still feels the hurt of how she was sidelined long ago as well as Sam now not needing hared triumph with Mary—to the weirdness of that floating-fabric ghost, but when you see how the evolving scenes transpire you probably wouldn’t face much criticism if you bowed out halfway to watch your local baseball team face another inevitable defeat (although over last weekend my Oakland West Sacramento Athletics managed to rise up briefly from the American League West Division cellar to take 2 of 3 from Division leader Houston Astros, went back to their ongoing losing ways against another crew next night but beat those Minnesota Twins on Tuesday and Wednesday, stunningly winning their last 2 series; life is like a box of baseballs, you never know if you’re gonna get a hit!).  Actually, that’s the kind of bailout-while-you-can response I’ve found from various critics I often cite in this blog (most of whom are at the 40% Metacritic level): Owen Myers of U.K.’s The Guardian: “If only Lowery’s po-faced film had any of the knowingness that could elevate its hodgepodge of ideas into a cult classic. It’s ironic, given that it is a film about a dress”; Manohla Dargis of The New York Times: “The only interesting thing about ‘Mother Mary’ is how unwaveringly its talented, charismatic leads […] manage to hold your attention despite such hollow nonsense”; Robbie Collin of U.K.’s The Telegraph: “As you watch, you find yourself continually grabbing at meaning but, like a ghost, your fingers slip straight through”; plus Odie Henderson of The Boston Globe (drops down to MC 38%): “Eventually, the film ends with a whimper, not a bang. ‘These metaphors are exhausting,’ Mother Mary mutters at one point. Amen to that, sister.”  Now, I’m not saying to abandon this film (it would have fewer of my stars if so), but, despite a lot of decent acting, eye-catching set designs, and well-choreographed concert scenes I found it hard to stay invested in.

 BOTTOM LINE FINAL COMMENTS: Mother Mary opened in domestic (U.S.-Canada [pre-tariffs]) on April 17, 2026, made a mere $2.6 million at the box-office ($3 million globally), now is best found via streaming where you can rent it for $4.99 from Amazon Prime Video (or invest $8.99 for a month if you need to become a subscriber), $5.99 from Apple TV ($12.99 monthly to subscribe), or it seems to be free to HBO Max subscribers ($10.99 a month to become one [film sometimes pops up on HBO cable too]).  The CCAL’s only marginally supportive of your attention to this one as the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are just 69% and the Metacritic average score is down to 58%.  As an example of someone who really likes it we have David Ehrlich of IndieWire (MC 91) who says: “It’s all rather vague and uncertain, like the contours of a rotting old friendship; the movie’s surfaces are as simple as the lyrics of a pop song, and its depths as rich and boundless as the feelings that same pop song might summon. Lowery is drawn to that tension, if also comfortably uncertain with what he might find there (this feels like the most ‘one for me’ movie he’s ever made, and yet I struggle to imagine how someone wouldn’t be able to see themselves in it, or at the very least be enamored by its design).”  To counter that, though, I found a lot of folks I often turn to who’re dismissive of this film (as noted in the section just above), including Stephanie Zacharek of TIME (MC 40): “Lowery has made some very modest but effective movies (A Ghost Story, The Old Man and the Gun), and some heavily embroidered ones (like The Green Knight,, a late-14th century fairytale extravaganza). But Mother Mary, arty and self-conscious, is just a slog. It works hard to impress us with its slinky weirdness, which isn’t the same as simply being weird.”  OK.

  Mother Mary’s certainly an unusual blend of ingredients (some hard to digest), especially once it moves from interpersonal conflict into disturbing supernatural realms so the choice is yours as I exit with my usual conclusion of a Musical Metaphor, this time (What else could I choose?) The Beatles’ "Let It Be" (1970 album of the same name)—their 19^th #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (followed that year by their finale as an active group, #20 “The Long and Winding Road”), although in this movie, unlike the inspirational person in the song, Mother Mary’s one of the “broken-hearted people” until she and Sam reconnect: “I wake up to the sound of music / Mother Mary comes to me / Speaking words of wisdom / Let it be.”  Nevertheless, I’ll wager (not much, though) many potential viewers of this film will just “let it be” as well while moving on to something else unless you’re willing to trust Mr. Ehrlich. If not, do find a success in the Metaphor where Billy Preston and even George Martin join in.

        

SHORT TAKES

         

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

 

We encourage you to visit the Summary of Two Guys Reviews for our past posts* (scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list).  Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage.  If you’d like to Like us on Facebook (yes?) please visit our Facebook page.  We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us!  Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post.  You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us there in order to comment (FB procedures: frequently perplexing mysteries for us aged farts).

 

*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.

 

If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please 

use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.

          

OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER (although Google Chrome usually is decent also); OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.

          

Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 47,668.  (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.)  Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):