As a lifelong admirer of Christopher Abbott, ever since Girls-I have been looking forward to his latest project, Wolf Man. I’m an easy target for a good monster movie too. I’m not a big horror buff, but I can appreciate a well-executed creature flick, knowing that this one hails from a director who has experience in the genre (think Saw) added to my intrigue.
The premise is conventional enough: a family has to go to a family farmhouse in Oregon that is located in the middle of nowhere, and out comes the monstrous and strange. It is your classic setup that can be made extremely effective in capable hands. Oh, and Wolf Man has its redeeming points.
Visually, the film does deliver. Some of the shots were beautiful and impressive in such a way that they really shocked me. More importantly, the film allows itself to delve into an interesting backstory for Blake, the character played by Christopher Abbott. That nuanced element was a pleasant surprise and helped the story really stay away from becoming yet another monster-attack flick. I really cared for these characters… well, some of them anyway.
Which brings me to the film’s most significant flaw: Julia Garner was miscast. I had a real love-hate relationship of her tests through the years-I either love her or hate her like crazy. Unfortunately, it happened to be the latter regarding Wolf Man. Her performance was so detached that I never bought into the character’s alleged love for Blake. The tension between Garner and Abbott was nearly nonexistent, which is a death knell for this movie because it revolves around their relationship. I think this was a major flaw that really distorted what should have been the emotional crux of the film. Was this detachment a directorial decision?
I’m giving this a 2 out of 5 Stars. This really could have been great. I think the dialogue and casting were the biggest problems.
