Dark Crimes, a dreary thriller starring Jim Carrey, comes across as a real downer. As a longtime Carrey fan, it pains me to see him in a film as poorly presented as this one. The lackluster plot and cinematography are hard to take. And the dialogue? Too confusing most of the time.

Inspired by the 2008 article “True Crime -- A Postmodern Murder Mystery by David Grann,” -- the film follows Tarek, a frustrated Polish detective (Carrey), as he tries to solve a murder case that’s already closed. Tarek is convinced he knows who really did the killing because of a description of the crime in Kozlov’s (Martin Csokas/Voice from the Stone) book. Disgraced and demoted for his actions in the last investigation and humiliated by losing a promotion he wanted, Tarek decides he can win back respect by bringing the real culprit to justice.

However, much of Tarek’s investigation involves getting in a car, driving to a destination, getting out of the car, going up to the door, and knocking at the door --- and then getting back into the car and driving home or to another destination. Ah, the excitement of it all!        

Oh, how I wish I did not see

the film DARK CRIMES with Jim Carrey.

He CAN do drama well, I know.

That’s not the problem with this show.

A thriller without any thrills,

so boring that I wanted pills.

Dreariness drowns us in each scene.

I’m warning you – not being mean.

Men driving cars to get someplace

will never a good plot replace.

And atmosphere cannot be all

a film offers, or it will fall!

In all fairness, Carrey really gets into his role here. He convinces us of Tarek’s determination and withdrawal from almost everything else during his investigation, including his wife (Agata Kulesza/The Innocents). Even Tarek’s involvement with Kozlov’s girlfriend (Charlotte Gainsbourg/Melancholia) seems almost like two robots engaged in sado-masochistic sexual behavior.

Speaking of sado-masochism, the movie -- directed by Alexandros Avranas (Love Me Not) and screenplay by Jeremy Block (A Little Chaos) -- contains very graphic, disturbing scenes depicting this activity and definitely earns its “R” rating by the MPAA.         

It’s interesting how pain can change a person, eh? How it makes a man abandon his pride and forsake himself. --- Kichiku Neko

(Released by Saban and rated “R” for strong and disturbing violent/sexual content including rape, graphic nudity and language.)

For more information about Dark Crimes, go to the IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes website.