Christian Bale plays a man hired by the commanders at West Point to investigate the death of a cadet. It looks like a suicide but it quickly becomes clear something else is going on, since the dead man's heart had been removed. Working to keep a lid on things lest the newly formed institution be destroyed by scandal Bale hooks up with cadet Edgar Allen Poe to get to the bottom of it.
I loved 3/4ths of this film I was absolutely enthralled for most of the running time. However as the film moved toward the end I suddenly realized that the denouncement wasn't really going to be satisfactory. Don't get me wrong, it works, but the details of why kind of disappoints, not because it couldn't be, rather it's because the details which made it work in the novel are lost in the film. Basically the small references that seemed like throwaways but built up to something are missing in the film. A second viewing may prove me wrong, but I don't think so.
As it is this is a very good mystery with an emotional kick.
Recommended.
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