Do you know the Whisper Man? He’s nothing like the Muffin Man, so if you do know the Whisper Man, you might want to stay away. Maybe not from this film, though. The Whisper Man has sort of its own identity in that it’s not as terrible as a slew of other Netflix original titles, but it’s also not going to launch into the upper echelon of the few, the proud, the Netflix originals that make the subscription worthwhile. It’s basically a one-time-watch type of film, especially given how much it hinges upon a twist ending.
Directed by James Ashcroft, who previously made The Rule of Jenny Pen, The Whisper Man stars Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Keaton and Hamish Linklater. We’re introduced to the legend of the Whisper Man, a serial killer who targets children, just as another child has gone missing. Detective Amanda Beck, played by Monaghan, is on the case, but this new Whisper Man appears to be a copycat because the original was caught years ago by now-retired detective Pete Willis, played by De Niro. Amanda consults Pete about the original investigation, hoping something from that case can help her find the missing child.
The film eventually becomes less concerned with that child because the copycat Whisper Man takes another one: Jake Kennedy, played by Acston Luca Porto. Jake is the son of Tom Kennedy, played by Scott, a crime writer whose wife recently died. Tom has moved with Jake to the town where his wife grew up, although it’s also the town where Tom grew up and where his estranged father Pete still lives. That makes Jake not only Tom’s kidnapped son but Pete’s grandson, sending Amanda, Tom and Pete into a race against time to find him before it’s too late.
I think Michelle Monaghan should technically be the lead of this film because Amanda is the detective actually investigating everything, and we seem to follow her more than we do Pete or Tom. I’m sure most people are watching this for Robert De Niro, but he seems rather unenthused about being here and strangely unbothered by the kidnapping of his grandson. Adam Scott, meanwhile, is all in on his performance, ready to throw himself into anything if it means getting his son back. Still, it’s Monaghan’s performance I liked the most, even though Amanda is, for some reason, an essentially unpartnered police detective who keeps having to enter potentially dangerous situations by herself.
I did see the ending coming, but honestly, not until a particular scene between Pete and the original Whisper Man, Frank Carter, who is now in prison and played by Michael Keaton. Frank alludes to something during their conversation that I picked up on almost casually, and I’ve seen too many movies like this to let it go. Hamish Linklater plays Norman Collins, one of those weird serial-killer collector types who likes finding and displaying objects connected to notorious murderers. He’s basically a fan rather than necessarily being the copycat, but his particular collection of hobbies is definitely going to attract the attention of the people investigating these crimes.
The Whisper Man is rated R, but it isn’t terribly violent or gory. It does feature some disturbing images involving dead children, which I assume helped earn it the rating. The film feels somewhat limited in scope because its cast is relatively small and the story never expands enough. This is the kind of mystery that could have benefited from placing more pawns on the board, giving us more people to consider as possible suspects. I’m not saying the way it intertwines its stories isn’t interesting because there is something here. It’s just not delivered in the most interesting or artistic way possible.
A better director might have noticed some of the cracks and polished them out so the film could truly shine. I wonder what The Whisper Man would have been like if someone such as David Fincher had jumped onto it. He probably would have identified some of the script’s problems, expanded the cast, tried to throw us off the scent a few more times, directed De Niro toward a more engaged performance and possibly given Amanda a partner. Seriously, it’s so weird that she doesn’t have one.
The audio description from International Digital Center is a really good track. It does a nice job of ensuring that blind audience members don’t know or perceive the identity of the Whisper Man until the film wants the rest of the audience to know. The eventual reveal is solid, especially if you don’t watch as many movies or aren’t overly familiar with this type of thriller. I think it could genuinely catch some people off guard. If you watch too many movies, however, your Spidey senses will probably start tingling. The ending is certainly weird, but it ties up the loose ends and leaves us in an interesting place with the characters we’ve been following.
Ultimately, The Whisper Man is worth talking about, if only because it manages to be better than most of Netflix’s film output so far this year. For a streaming title, it’s above average. It isn’t great, and nobody needs to start planning an awards campaign, but if you’re bored on a Friday night, I think it does the job.
Fresh: 6.2/10
