Martin (Elijah Wood), an American student, teams up with the brilliant Oxford University professor Arthur Seldom (John Hurt) to solve a string of murders that they accidentally become involved with. The Spanish filmmakers are unable to give this British mystery with overtones of Dan Brown any real color, even though Oxford locations and Hurt as the eccentric professor are at their disposal. One shouldn’t take the movie too seriously; there’s an amusing enough twist near the end, but the journey leading up to it should have been more exciting.
2008-Britain-France-Spain. 108 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Alex de la Iglesia. Novel: Guillermo Martinez. Cast: Elijah Wood (Martin), John Hurt (Arthur Seldom), Leonor Watling (Lorna), Julie Cox, Jim Carter, Alex Cox.
Trivia: Michael Caine and Jeremy Irons were allegedly considered for the part of Seldom.
