Tell Tale (2010) User Reviews

Comes short in terms of drama and mystery

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 23 September 2013]

Unfortunately this little 8.5-minute movie does not deliver the way I had hoped for. Usually, in short films, you find a whole bunch of no-name actors and if you're unlucky they may also lack talent altogether. This film has four established actors including a Chicago Hope reunion with Carla Gugino and Adam Arkin. Also, it has Jesse Spencer, at this point still co-starring on House and who funnily enough went on to Chicago Fire afterward.

The film starts with a brief interrogation sequence of Gugino's character and we are shown what happened at her home with her husband and toy-boy lover that brought her into this situation. Unfortunately, it never really gains steam, which is a pity considering the cast, and only gets worse for the final plot twist. This film is a pretty good example on how a film without a good script is already lost and how no real good actors can really save it anymore, so I wouldn't really recommend Tell-Tale, unless you're a big fan of any of the parties involved.

Great noir tone and look although the narrative doesn't bring it to as strong a conclusion as I would have liked

[bob the moo · 5 April 2014]

A dangerously sexy woman is in a dark interview room accused of murdering her lover. Her husband sits next door while a detective tries to break them both in rooms filled with smoke and heat. It is not a new story and indeed part of the appeal of Tell-Tale is that it gets the noir conventions so right in terms of tone and look. The plot builds pretty well through the noir into the Poe link suggested by the title. As a narrative it is decent but as it goes on it spells things out too much and the scene with the lady on the concrete floor would have been better without so much dialogue spelling everything out as if the viewer would not be smart enough to understand the meaning by way of the reference.

Outside of this the film delivers something that is engaging because although it is derivative, it is a very strong reference which is very well filmed so that you feel the heat in the interview room, feel the sexual passion in the flashbacks and get drawn into the tough conventions of the genre. The very impressive cast list help this with good performances from Gugino, Collins, Arkin and Spencer – all of whom you will know from much bigger projects. A shame that the conclusion could not have been smarter and more satisfying but still, it looks and feels the part and engages for the most part of the running time.