The Oxford Murders (2008)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (writer)
Álex de la Iglesia (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (Spain)

Genre:

Crime | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try and stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder Investigation | Bus Ride | Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship | Restaurant Scene | Landlady

Cast

Elijah Wood	...	Martin
John Hurt	...	Arthur Seldom
Leonor Watling	...	Lorna
Julie Cox	...	Beth
Burn Gorman	...	Podorov
Anna Massey	...	Mrs. Eagleton
Jim Carter	...	Inspector Petersen
Alan David	...	Mr. Higgins
Dominique Pinon	...	Frank
Tim Wallers	...	Defence Lawyer
James Weber-Brown	...	Doctor
Ian East	...	Howard Green
Charlotte Asprey	...	Mrs. Howard Green
Alex Cox	...	Kalman
Tom Frederic	...	Ludwig Wittgenstein

Also Known As:

Crímenes de Oxford, Los (Spain: Castilian title)
Crimes à Oxford (France)
Oxford Crimes (Spain) (working title)

Runtime:

107 min | Germany:107 min (European Film Market)

Country:

Spain | UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Spain:13 | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Eurimages

Trivia:

The "Bormat's Last Theorem" that is solved in the movie is clearly a reference to Fermat's Last Theorem. Like Bormat's theorem in the movie, Fermat's theorem was widely considered to be (one of) the most difficult problems of the last 300 years. It was solved fairly recently (in 1995 by Andrew Wiles). It was solved using elliptic curves, and the proof was first demonstrated at Cambridge. Like the proof of Bormat's theorem in the movie, the proving of Fermat's was a very big deal in the world of number theory.

Curate's Egg

I was looking forward to this film and didn't get the chance to see it at the cinema. Its been released on DVD this week so I popped down to HMV yesterday and bought it and....I'm still trying to sum it up for myself.

It wasn't a bad film, not like everyone seems to be making out, but it wasn't a great film either. It was just good-ish.

I liked the idea of how things that are totally random can set of a whole host of things and how sometimes people look to hard for reason and logic when there is none to be had. All these themes were present in an otherwise old fashioned and enjoyable thriller and cat and mouse plot. The interplay between the Hurt and Wood characters reminded me occasionally of Slueth and on the whole I could imagine this film doing much better if it was made in the 1970s. It also reminded me of some kind of TV pilot of two complete opposites getting together to solve a murder case, the ageing professor and his plucky young Rhode scholar! Straight out of some Anglo-American 80s programme! It had that kind of old style vibe to it that was hard to dislike. Contrary to what some scathing reviews say.

It was obvious though that it comes from a foreign novel and that it was a co-production with Spain for the simple reason that we are shown a fairytale style England...again maybe that is why in places it feels old fashioned, the depiction was not out of place from older films which the makers probably grew up with and formed their idea of the UK. I liked and disliked the fact that all the background artistes and supports seemed to be made up of grotesques; many extras were not the most attractive of people, plus the makers fascination with the sick and the ill, which naturally form a big part of the plot...Alex Cox's cameo as the mad professor was especially gruesomely ugly! The macabre side to me liked the grotesque characters, the Englishman in me disliked the idea that other countries may view us all as ugly and oddball!

John Hurt was as ever solidly reliable and seemed to be really enjoying himself. Elijah Wood seems to be getting a lot of flak but I genuinely didn't mind him in this at all. The criticism that he was annoying or whiney falls down for me as the character was meant to be a little like that.

Burn Gorman overacted a little, but what else can you do with so obvious a red herring?

All in all as I say a good film but it failed to live up to the great looking trailer, as is so often the case. Essentially take away the Da Vinci Code macguffin and we have a straightforward old style murder mystery that many would sit down on a Sunday night to watch on TV, yet for some reason many complain about it because it's a 'film'

My advice, take it for what it is and enjoy it.