GREY LADY: CONFUSING MYSTERY

A great mystery will provide you clues to assist in solving the puzzle as it moves forward. There have been a number of these made over the many decades movies have been around. A good mystery provides some of the information you need but not enough to aid you and in the end can either be satisfying in how the story is told or in the resolution. Most movie mysteries fall into this category, falling just a tad shy of being great. GREY LADY falls into that category.

Doyle (Eric Dane) is a Boston police detective who is romantically involved with his partner Maggie (Rebecca Gayheart). So much so that she is now pregnant, a fact she discovers just before they head out to work. On the way they receive a 911 distress call, a woman claiming she is being attacked. They answer the call only to find that it was a trap set up for them. Doyle is shot in the shoulder and Maggie is killed, an incision left in the back of her neck.

Fast forward to months later. Doyle is officially off the case and on leave. He’s headed to Nantucket, a place he once visited with his family as a child and the Grey Lady of the title, a name the islanders have to the island. Before she died in his arms Maggie gave him a clue, the heart and crown. That clue has led him here to a pub of that name, the only link that he can come up with. On the ferry to the Nantucket he meets a few others heading that way, a young woman named Eli (Carolyn Stotesberry) and a somewhat eccentric lady named The Duchess (Laila Robbins), the owner of an art gallery on Nantucket.

When the boat docks Doyle is greeted by Johnson (Adrian Lester), a local detective sent to take him to speak to police chief Maguire (John Shea). Doyle had phoned ahead seeking help and Johnson is there to assist him. While Johnson has no problems helping him, Doyle is not an easy nut to crack. He’s surly and not forthcoming with information. The locals continue to help Doyle even after his boss back in Boston tells him on the phone he is off the case and pending dismissal of he pursues it.

Here is where things first begin to get murky. We know the set up, we know why Doyle is here…but that’s all. The amount of evidence that would lead him here is minute at best. And yet here he is, chasing down small bits and pieces that we as viewers are not privy to. This is where we deviate from a great to a good mystery. How can we understand all that’s happening when we have no clues to decipher?

The plot moves forward and sifting through the bits and pieces we gather we begin to see where it’s going. More murders occur on the island. It appears the killer has followed Doyle and for some reason has set his sights on anyone close to him. As Doyle makes friends some find themselves deceased. He grows close to an artist on the island named Melissa (Natalie Zea) to the point they may become an item. It’s a slow attraction the two build over time and not one where he abandons his past love to jump in bed with a new woman, something nice and new in a movie.

The film moves forward to an inevitable conclusion where Doyle will face off against a killer he now can identify. What takes it up a notch is the story beneath the story. Is there a secret Doyle must discover in his search for the killer that involves him and his family personally or was it random? And if there is something else going on how can we figure out what that is if we are not presented with any information? By the end of the film all is revealed and the bits and pieces we were given become more obvious.

The movie is well crafted with a great look at Nantucket that relies less on the tried and true vacation hot spots and more on what the locals would see. The cinematography is well done capturing what appears to be a non-stop fog that rolls across the island most of the time. The acting on all counts is wonderful with each character portrayed as believable no matter what the circumstances.

In the end I enjoyed watching the movie from start to finish. Some will find themselves frustrated with the lack of clues and information, confused when there really was no reason to have things portrayed this way. But if you stick it out to the end you’ll find a satisfying ending that closes the circle and makes it all apparent.

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