'The Whisper Man' has nothing to see, hear
Netflix
If “The Whisper Man” weren’t based on a hit novel by Alex North, you’d be convinced it was AI. Although at this point AI is sophisticated enough that if you asked it for generic slop combining pieces of countless stories about kids in danger and serial killers (with some creepy house business on the side), the result would be better than this.
Poor Adam Scott (the only familiar face who’s trying here) plays Tom, a widower who moves with his son Jake (Acston Luca Porto) to his late wife’s hometown, even though it’s also where his estranged father (Robert De Niro) apprehended the titular serial kidnapper and killer of children years ago. When, of course, Jake disappears, it reunites Tom and his dad while looping in a very ineffective cop (Michelle Monaghan, who takes too many bad parts) and a mystery that goes nowhere interesting or good.
Reminiscent of dreck like “Kiss the Girls” and about 50,000 miles from “Zodiac” or “Seven” or anything even Fincher-esque, “The Whisper Man” is very long and very unpleasant — not the worst movie ever made, but bad and upsetting enough that I’d be pretty concerned if someone I knew really liked it. The opening sequence is terrible and everything after it is too, though there are a few unintentional laughs scattered throughout to remind you just how little control director James Ashcroft (“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”) has over the tone. Maybe the book more capably handled Tom’s work as a novelist or the elements of multigenerational trauma; for those who haven’t read it, the script by Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer is all text and no subtext, attempting something spooky and really just making me want to rewatch “The Orphanage.”
I thought De Niro was done with garbage like this, and I’d like to think Netflix knows better (haha, kidding). But it is kinda funny that late August, often a dumping ground for theatrical releases, likewise holds no prestige on streaming either.
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