The Oxford Murders (2008)

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

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia (as Alex de la Iglesia)

Writers:

Álex de la Iglesia (screenplay) (as Alex de la Iglesia), Jorge Guerricaechevarría (screenplay) (as Jorge Guerricachevarria)

Stars:

Elijah Wood, John Hurt, Leonor Watling

6 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elijah Wood	...	Martin
John Hurt	...	Arthur Seldom
Leonor Watling	...	Lorna
Julie Cox	...	Beth
Jim Carter	...	Inspector Petersen
Alex Cox	...	Kalman
Burn Gorman	...	Yuri Podorov
Dominique Pinon	...	Frank
Anna Massey	...	Mrs. Eagleton
Danny Sapani	...	Scott
Alan David	...	Mr. Higgins
Tim Wallers	...	Defense Lawyer
James Weber Brown	...	Doctor
Ian East	...	Howard Green
Charlotte Asprey	...	Howard Green's Wife

Storyline

Martin (Elijah Wood), a PhD student in mathematics, enrolls at Oxford in the hope of meeting his mentor, Professor Arthur Seldom (Sir John Hurt). The young man manages to find lodging at Mrs. Eagleton's (Anna Massey's), but in this house, a stifling atmosphere prevails due to the landlady's attitude. Indeed Mrs. Eagleton, who happens to be a friend of Seldom's, is a haughty and unsympathetic woman who also stifles her daughter Beth (Julie Cox). At the university, things do not fare much better as Martin is put in his place by his idol during one of Seldom's lectures. But his private life changes for the best as he starts an affair with Lorna (Leonor Watling), a beautiful girl he met during a game of squash. One night, Seldom and Martin, who find themselves at Mrs. Eagleton's, discover her dead body. They are interrogated by the Police. Soon afterwards, they decide to lead their own private investigation.

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Plot Keywords:

mathematics | riding a bicycle | symbol | lecture | landlady | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual content/nudity and some violence/disturbing images

Details

Country:

Spain UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 July 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los crímenes de Oxford

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+ España, Canal+, Eurimages

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in nine weeks.

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Goofs

(at around 14 mins) In the classroom scene, Martin announces that he believes in the number pi, and explains that by this he means the golden section, related to the Fibonacci sequence. The goof is that this number is universally referred to as phi, not pi, which is reserved for the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle.

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Quotes

Arthur Seldom: There is no way of finding a single absolute truth, an irrefutable argument which might help answer the questions of mankind. Philosophy, therefore, is dead, because whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must be silent.

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Crazy Credits

The background to the credits sequence is a representation of a blackboard full of equations and mathematical formulae.

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Connections

Referenced in MovieBerto: Los crímenes de Oxford (2015)

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Soundtracks

Orchestral Suite nº1 in C Major, BMW 1006:1 Overture
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J.S. Bach)
Performed by Felix Prohaska and Vienna State Opera Orchestra
©2003 Vanguard Classics
Courtesy of Vanguard Classics

User Reviews

Bland but Almost Saved by John Hurt

I had high hopes for "The Oxford Murders", a new Straight-to-DVD film starring Elijah Wood and John Hurt, and most of those hopes were slowly let down as I watched the movie.

The film follows Martin (Wood), an American who travels to Oxford to write his thesis under the legendary mathematician Arthur Seldom (Hurt), and finds an angry, pompous old man instead of the wise and caring fellow he had imagined. Disillusioned, Martin is about to return home when he and Seldom find a dead body. The rest of the film covers Martin and Seldom's race against time to find the killer, using the mathematical theories that both are knowledgeable about.

The film is pretty bland. It's characters, save the amazing John Hurt, are one-dimensional. Martin is boring and unengaging and Elijah Wood does nothing to improve his script. The same can be said of Julie Cox and especially Leonar Watling. John Hurt is the only reason I finished, really. His acting skill is not at home in the world of blandness.

You could do better than "The Oxford Murders", but if you're not looking for too much it will suffice.