The creation story of Reptile is as bizarre as it is enticing. Prolific music video director Grant Singer gained enough credibility to branch into filmmaking, and he and colleague Benjamin Brewer hooked up with none other than the world-renowned actor Benicio del Toro. Backed by the daughter of FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith and Young and the Restless actor Thad Luckinbill, Singer, del Toro, and Brewer concoct a heady crime thriller for Netflix. However, as we have seen countless times, the seemingly perfect pieces do not always add up to a worthwhile effort.
Reptile Synopsis
Reptile stars Benicio del Toro as Tom Nichols, a detective working the case of a real estate agent’s murder. As twists and convolutions compound involving the victim’s husband and a surrounding web of lies greater than anyone could anticipate, Nichols reckons with façades as the case interweaves into his life.
Reptile and Del Toro’s Filmmaking Credits
Shockingly, seasoned actor Benicio del Toro has rarely filled behind-the-camera roles in his decades-long career. Judging by his intense, considered involvement in Steven Soderbergh’s Che series, you might expect him to have writer or director credits on a feature film by now, but only a 1995 short and one segment of an anthology film bear his name. For a full-length movie, Reptile marks his first writing credit ever.
As an executive producer for the film, del Toro uses Reptile to showcase nuanced, sandy-voiced acting work that we have come to expect from him over the years. His whole career exhibits controlled performances even at the actor’s most insane, but recently, he has been on a roll with Escape at Dannemora, No Sudden Move, and The French Dispatch, showing he has the same level of attention in nearly every role he takes seriously. Perhaps that is why Reptile is particularly disappointing; with his performance and the chance to add something from his learned career, this Netflix original could have come out so much better instead of falling flat thanks to a contrived mess of a story and flat, dull direction.
Music Video to Film Director Troubles
The journey from music videos to narrative filmmaking is no perfectly straight line, and standing out from your peers in the filmmaking world means striking out on your own. Singer has an evident affinity for David Fincher, who crafts his procedurals in similarly slow-burning, dark, and grim fashions. The story he works from in Reptile has meat to it, but excitement rarely sparks from what Singer shows the audience.
Benicio del Toro and Alicia Silverstone in ‘Reptile’
Even the acting performances hide under a quiet, muddied voice mix that aesthetically matches the ugly brown color palette but suddenly gives way to score stings that surprise more than the content seen here. As any successful screenwriter/director knows, a million good ideas do not matter if you cannot effectively weave them together.
Cast Efforts in Serviceable Performances Will Appeal to Some
The recognizable cast of del Toro, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Silverstone, and Eric Bogosian infrequently move the plot for Reptile, but the director thwarts their efforts. Singer has plenty to learn about narrative writing and directing before making an officially significant picture, with its main crime being the misuse of del Toro’s involvement. Those who can forgive contrivances in their gritty crime tales might get one view out of Reptile, but the amount of engaging material in this over two-hour film is unfortunately scarce.
Reptile is streaming now on Netflix.