Posted at 2:30 p.m.
Although it is undeniable that Eddie Redmayne is an excellent actor, the Briton is not the most convincing in the role of Charlie Cullen.
The character of this nurse is discreet, almost self-effacing, overly helpful and, above all, terrifying. You can feel it all in the actions and words that Redmayne plays, but his performance doesn’t quite achieve the desired effect. Rather than chilling the blood, his Charlie is dull.
There is something necessarily intended in this harmless air, since the role of “good nurse” that he plays is opposed to his true nature as a murderer. But the plot suffers as the character fails to make us feel anything.
Faced with Redmayne, Jessica Chastain meets the standards of her reputation. In the role of Amy, she perfectly interprets the exhaustion of this nurse, mother of two children, sick and out of breath, but also the strength of a woman ready to do anything to assert the truth.
The Good Nurse does not seek to create mystery. We quickly understand that Charlie is probably responsible for the unexplained deaths of patients in intensive care. The tension lies in the resolution of an investigation, opened after yet another suspicious death. Two police officers are on the case, Amy finds herself implicated and we wonder how it will all end, while the leaders of the hospitals themselves seem to be playing a double game.
If we do not escape the curiosity to know how this story, drawn from real-life events, ends, the plot does not always manage to captivate us. A certain slowness, which seems to seek to establish suspense, makes the film vaguely soporific. The facts told are despicable (and there are several layers of ignominy in this whole story), it is important that this story be told. But when it comes to thrillers, you can really do better.
On Netflix
Thriller
The Good Nurse
Tobias Lindholm
With Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne
2:01 a.m.