"An Imperfect Murder"

Sometimes you watch a performance and wonder what you are watching, or why the movie was even made. It so happens that "An Imperfect Murder", originally named "The Private Life of a Modern Woman" is one of those movies. In the short time frame of its duration... only and hour and fifteen minutes long, we see a famous actress who is haunted by a nightmare involving her ex-boyfriend, she begins to question her reality and whether the incident took place.

The movies brief biography looks appealing, if not interesting, however, the movie comes up short in many ways. The movies writer and director, James Toback could have taken this movie in many different directions, rather he choose the most simplistic and amateur's way out. With a decent cast, better, deeper writing could have made this a memorable movie. Set in New York City, Vera Lochman (Sienna Miller) is in between movie roles; the audience is never sure if this talented actor is scarred, confident, suicidal or confused.

Trying to be cutting edge, this 2017 movie which is under new releases by Netflix is anything but. As the movie makes its way from Vera's dream, it has one meaningless scene after another. We never get to see the usage of Detective Mc' Cutcheon (Alec Baldwin). Baldwin is in one scene and the dialogue between Miller and Baldwin is weak. If Toback had written a more suspenseful scene like the movie "Unfaithful", where suspect and detective was more a cat and mouse scenario, this would have increased the movies value. Instead, Baldwin's character goes through the motions and the audience comes away with nothing whatsoever.

"An Imperfect Murder" is more like "one acts" in theater. It seems that each scene is separated from the plot line... we have a friend/psychologist (we are not sure what he is), we have Vera's grandfather (Charles Groden) who suffers from dementia, Carl Icahn who plays himself; for no particular reason, Icahn is cast in this movie. which he has a role that too makes no sense.

The movie is not only weak but it is slip shod as well. When Vera takes the body to what looks like Tarrytown New York, her license plates start out as New York plates, when she dumps the body, the plates are New Jersey plates and they switch back to New York plates when she re- enters the city.

Produced in 2017, it appears that Toback may have had other things on his mind while writing this movie. Shortly after the premier, Toback was accused by hundreds of woman for sexual impropriety. The movie at that time was in the shadows of Toback and his problems with dealing with the law and the #metoo movement. Maybe it was a good thing that the movie had a limited release due to the media exposure.

Sienna Miller was the one good thing in this movie. Miller, a talented actress ("The Layer Cake"; "Alfie" and "The Factory Girl") , was able to carry her role with ease. The problem with bad writing, however, is that you have no where to go and are trapped in a cage. Miller is able to pull off the allusive character caught in her skin at that time and in the moment.

Netflix is a provider of some really good movies and documentaries. In the case of "An Imperfect Murder", it throws up a stinker. Lacking plot or anything interesting for that matter, this movie should have never been released and should have went straight to DVD. It is not clear what writer/director Toback was going for with this movie; perhaps a "Nocturnal Animals" like film? Was Toback trying to develop an abstract movie in the realm of abstract consciousness? Either way, this so called thriller is anything but. Adding insult to injury, Toback gives us a non actor who comes in and tells us about his childhood and how it relates to Charles Groden's character. Much like "Un Cut Gems", Adam Sandler brings in a former textile manufacturer who has no acting experience as well. Moves like these by directors and producers needs to be questioned.