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The first reviews of Christian Bale-starrer mystery thriller 'The Pale Blue Eye' are here. Written and directed by Scott Cooper, the film is an adaptation of the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard. Set in 1830, it features Bale as a veteran detective Augustus Landor who is investigating a series of murders at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Melling plays the role of Edgar Allan Poe, a real-world figure who went on to become one of America's greatest authors, who assists Landor in his endeavours.

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The film has an impressive ensemble cast, with names like Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall.

This is the second collaboration between Bale and Cooper after 2017's 'Hostiles'.

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Thus far, the film has received mixed critical reception. The film has received 43 per cent on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Here are some of the reviews:

The Daily Telegraph's Tim Robey wrote, "Howard Shore’s routinely excellent moody scores helps our wend through the wilderness. But the irony, for a would-be-macabre mystery about hearts being ripped out, is a flatlined pulse and a puzzling absence of red meat."

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Financial Times' Danny Leigh wrote, "And yet Cooper the writer is clearly not trusted by Cooper the director, who shoots this ripe malarkey with a slow and earnest gaze, like a Hammer horror gone social realist."

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Empire Magazine's Dan Jolin wrote, "A handsome murder mystery with a neat literary twist and an impressive turn from Harry Melling, but which is overcast by the gloominess of its protagonist and the implausibility of its revelations."

Deadline's Todd McCarthy said, "A drama with good and particular qualities rather than one that’s genuinely exciting."

'The Pale Blue Eye' is currently running in select theatres in the US. It releases on Netflix on January 6, 2023.

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