The Oxford Murders Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
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.
| John Hurt | Arthur Seldom |
| Elijah Wood | Martin |
| Leonor Watling | Lorna |
| Julie Cox | Beth |
| Burn Gorman | Podorov |
| Anna Massey | Mrs. Eagleton |
| Jim Carter | Inspector Petersen |
| Alan David | Mr. Higgins |
| Dominique Pinon | |
| Tim Wallers | Defence Lawyer |
| James Weber-Brown | Doctor |
| Ian East | Howard Green |
| Charlotte Asprey | Mrs. Howard Green |
| Alex Cox | Kalman |
| Tom Frederic | Ludwig Wittgenstein |
| Álex de la Iglesia |
6.30 out of 10 (1034 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Our mind is the wrapper of equations
posted on 14 Aug 2009Our mind is the wrapper of equations.Use your mind hard, everything happening can be calculated. Look down on one equation, combining equations and things people come with another new equations.This is my explanation about the movie. In the end, it's the professor who finds the final equation. Martin is just one of the numbers in it. It's only the professor who sees equation after equations.We use our minds to wrap up a lot of equations. Sometimes we are absolute about things, sometimes we want to prove them. But most of the time, we can't get away from ourselves and things, look down to them, and think.There is a science fiction that says, think of things in the universal sociology or philosophy, everything changes.
The only thing murdered here was a bunch of my own brain cells
posted on 29 Jul 2009The Name of the Rose it ain't. Film about semiotics and symbols had better not be patronizing or dull otherwise they insult. This is not-so-smarts dressed up as supersmarts and fails to covers the credibility gap.It starts strongly but suddenly Elijah Wood becomes a sex magnet (Uh?) and John Hurt delivers every line with maximum thrust all the time: compared to his Bob Champion this makes his character seem impossibly arrogant. The whole thing feels so false and contrived, but not even stylized enough to make it work.Definitely not enough to engage the brain and a bizarre interlude in the John Radcliffe Hospital all left us cold.Watchable if its your absolute favourite genre, otherwise go read a good science book and marvel at some real mysteries.
poor copy of Morse. Doesn't live up to reviews of Guillermo Martinez's novel
posted on 11 Jul 2009If you know Morse, I think you'll be disappointed and find too many negative comparisons.If Álex de la Iglesia could have done better than Morse, he shouldn't have tried a poor imitation. It just didn't work, well, not for me. Of course if you don't know about Morse then you might like this film. Sure there was some good acting and photography, but this film could have been so much better. Also, I think ÁlexI could do with better advisers if he is to try an English-language film again. The book -- "Los crímenes de Oxford" (translated as "The Oxford Murders" by Sonia Soto) by Guillermo Martinez who has a PhD in maths and even spent a couple of years on post-doc work at Oxford (watching Morse?) -- does seem to have been very well received, even by an Oxford maths don (in The Guardian). So, I/we should pop down to una librería and feast on that.
Not good, really not good.
posted on 23 Jun 2009Dull. Incredibly dull. Unoriginal, derivative, trite and just so dull. I don't see the point in this movie. Acting was laughably poor at times, the plot was tired and unoriginal and the movie just simply shouldn't have ever been made. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen and admittedly I did make it through the entire movie however my attention wavered frequently and I constantly became frustrated with just how trite the plot elements and dialogue were. I'd probably give this one a miss but if you must watch it wait until it comes out on DVD or borrow a copy...
Miss Marple morphs in to a hobbit who is inexplicably irresistible to women
posted on 13 Jun 2009The Oxford Murders starts intriguingly enough with a camera shaking introduction to the hell of the first world war. It soon dawns on the viewer that this is a cheap trick, a flashback expensively shot,which is repeatedly employed in the movie to break up the drudgery of the main plot (The Da Vinci Code anyone?). Alex De Iglesias had emerged from the Iberian Peninsula with a reputation of a talented filmmaker, however he forces his darkly comic touches on the "Who Dunnit" format, in a manner that feels absurd. The synopsis of the plot involves Frodo (now fully grown and a mathematical whiz) travelling to Oxford in pursuit of academic excellence and a University lecturer (John Hurt - looking like he's just dropped his last cigarette in the rain as usual) with a differing view of the world through numbers. Cue some of the most action packed Blackboard writing scenes since the excellent "A Beautiful Mind". More unlikely still Frodo appears to be wearing a magic amulet that results in any woman he meets having no issues with the height difference. The amulet also provides Frodo the belief that bad squash players automatically qualify as geniuses (Should that be geni? Anyone help me out?) The University town then provides the backdrop for a series of murders that our intrepid hero seeks to solve through a battle of logic with the professor. I soon questioned my own logic of going to watch this film as I realised that any oft filmed Straight to TV Agatha Christie fare is 10 times as intelligent as this alleged "thriller". I should have watched Alien Vs Predator - at least it knows it's tosh.
Curate's Egg
posted on 09 Jun 2009I 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.
Unadulterated rubbish from lazy film-makers who just couldn't be bothered to do it right!
posted on 05 Jun 2009A really bad movie, one of the worst of all time. I'm led to believe this was the directors' first 'serious' movie - well, it shows, it stinks. It is preposterous and stupid, idiotic and unwatchable, it is moronic and a total waste of money. I won't be watching anything else by this director because I have better things to spend my money on. To the fool who wrote don't read the bad comments (mainly because being from Spain, where his beloved director is from, he loved it) I say as an English resident please DO read the bad comments because they show how bad this movie is. Had anybody remotely connected with the movie actually done any research, they'd know that in 2008 British police vehicles and ambulances do not use old minibuses, or panda cars with the 1970's style light on them, perhaps the directors and writers etc could have made sure this detail was correct but as they wasted the money they'd been given on just getting any old tat that looks like a police car/ambulance (doesn't matter what era) it looks shoddy and cheap, just like the movie overall. A terminal cancer ward would not, for instance, be hidden away in the bowels of a disused hospital where the dead go to die - how insulting!!! Our cancer wards are staffed by hard working professionals who give care and attention. NOTICE TO LAZY DIRECTORS - we do not have hospitals full of nurses kissing and swapping tongues in full view of everyone while they are on duty, neither do they have a convenient mobile phone in their pockets, which serves to show up the laziness of those making the movie to fill a plot hole. One of the most idiotic scenes is where Wood says to Hurt 'I trust my own eyes' and then pratfalls into a hole being dug by workmen is SO SO bad - I mean come on!!! it's so stupid. This is a nightmare of a movie, please please give it a miss. Even the ridiculous twist at the end does nothing to save it's face. Which airport were we in, someone's office building more like. I absolutely hate movies like this where I spend money to watch it and find it is so useless. So please go spend your money on something which is well written, acted and directed but not this poor excuse for a movie, it is dire!Oxford is a beautiful city but we saw none of it; what a shame that all this movie did was borrow the name of the place. This is so badly written, directed and acted that this lovely place was never seen - perhaps it's just as well, and I'd love to see this done again in the hands of an experienced director with better actors, writers and researchers and then see what a good movie it would be. This version is rubbish!
A disappointment of epic proportions
posted on 28 May 2009Martin a young American maths genius enrols at Oxford, so that he can meet his hero Arthur Seldom (John Hurt), a college professor and brain on secret mathematical codes. He also finds lodgings at a home where the landlady is a friend of Seldom's, by doing so he hopes to meet the man and have him be his mentor at college, for the thesis he is writing. However after attending one of Seldom's lectures on Bormat's Last Theorem, Martin questions the validity of a point Seldom makes, Seldom duly embarrasses him, which leaves Martin with the urge to return home. But before he can he and Seldom find the landlady dead, presumably murdered. Seldom reveals he had just received a note foretelling her death, anot that was in a secret code, together they try and solve the riddle and hopefully stop any further murders.Billed as an intelligent Da Vinci Code, I found the premise of a mystical unsolved mathematical formula, and the use of symbols from this theorem by the killer to be very attractive, the first few scenes had me duly hooked. Hurt has that lived in face and acting ability to do play the crotchety old professor and he duly impresses for a time, but the films direction is lost very quickly with some ridiculous characters and characterisations adding to the overall mess. The actors seem to be acting in a black comedy, only without the laughs, their over elaborated eye movements left this viewer bemused as to what the hell was the point of it. The ending will also leave many bemused and irritated. A disappointment of epic proportions.
The first De la Iglesia's film I do not like
posted on 22 May 2009I am not a big fan of director Álex de la Iglesia but I have liked pretty much his movies (specially,El Día de la Bestia and La Comunidad).They have so much energy and frenetic tones that make them enormously entertaining.However,The Oxford Murders is the first film by him I do not like.The Oxford Murders lacks of that energy I mentioned.The movie is very slow,so it easily bores.Besides,this movie has a lot of redundant and irrelevant moments which could have easily been edited.At least,the actors made a decent work.Elijah Wood,John Hurt and Leonor Watling bring decent performances.Another fail I found in the movie is that the story it tells is completely uninteresting,so I did not care for what happened.The Oxford Murders is a weak film which bored me pretty much.I wish de la Iglesia will have more luck with his next movie.
Unwittingly Unwity!!!!
posted on 02 May 2009This film tries so hard to be clever and witty that it has unwittingly outwitted itself into witlessness. Everybody talks like they're the wittiest person on earth. There is so much wit going around that the characters begin to drown in it!!! unfortunately, with all this focus on clever dialog we end up getting no realist character interactions throughout the entire film, i.e. there is a scene when Elijah meets his roommate for the first time. The roommate is sitting at his desk studying while Elijah heatedly packs his bags, after a minute of packing his bags, the roommate looks up and says "you must be Martin?" and then he goes on with some more lame one-line "witty" remarks about Elijah bag-packing… WTF? He didn't notice "Martin" enter the room two minutes earlier??? Wouldn't they have spoken too each other when they first met and not two minutes later! It was creepy and felt like another excuse for the director to show us (the audience) just how clever he was for setting up more "witty" banter.The entire movie is like this! No one actually talk to each other throughout the entire movie. All the characters talk "at" each other, like a bunch of strangers in a coffee shop. It's weird and a bit uncomfortable. More importantly, it's completely UNBELIEVABLE!!! Other then that, it's just a fair murder mystery. Actually, it was a little boring and difficult to sit through! I was going to give it 5 stars for the beautiful cinematography, but the acting and directing deserve a big fat zero! Overall, I'll give it 2 stars for effort.PS / I was sincerely looking forward to this movie if for no other reason then to see Elijah Woods back on the silver screen. What a disappointment! The biggest death in this movie, might be that of his career :(
Excellent murder mystery
posted on 20 Apr 2009The Oxford Murders seems to have garnered quite a lot of hatred towards it since it's release in 2008, and to be honest I can see why. It's clear that this is not a film for everyone, but personally I liked it. The Oxford Murders is different and challenging, and while its ideas can certainly be more than a little bit pretentious at times; it kept me guessing for the duration. The film is based on a book by Guillermo Martinez; I haven't read it, but from what I understand; the movie is quite faithful to the source material. As the title suggests, the film takes place in Oxford and focuses on Oxford University in particular. American student Martin has travelled to Oxford to study mathematics; the main reason for him being there is Arthur Seldom; a brilliant professor lecturing at the University. He tries to get the teacher's attention in a lecture and ends up looking silly; but they meet again a bit later when they discover the dead body of Martin's landlord. This leads to an investigation into a possible serial killer when it emerges the professor received a note forewarning of the murder.Director Álex de la Iglesia succeeds in capturing what I imagine the atmosphere of Oxford University to be like. Not in terms of the style of the film; but certainly with regards to the pretentious snobbiness of the plot. It's clear that the plot does think itself very clever; but in many ways it is. The film introduces us with a handful of main characters, and then gets into the action rather quickly. Once the mystery begins, we are fed with a slew of red herrings; each with a legitimate reason for committing the crimes, and thus keeping us guessing throughout. The lead role is taken by Elijah Wood; who is surprisingly effective with his portrayal; it's easy to believe he's an ace maths student. The real plaudits have to go to John Hurt, however, who gets his snarling performance spot on. There's rather a lot of maths talk that the vast majority of audience members won't understand. I didn't understand most of it either, but all the important stuff is explained enough so that even those that couldn't solve "the idiot series" will be able to follow it. Things do get a bit complicated at times; but things are generally well reasoned, and the twist (which I didn't see coming) rounds everything off nicely. Overall, I may be in a minority; but I liked this thriller a lot and would definitely recommend it.
Absolutely awful!
posted on 20 Apr 2009This really is a poor film. It has a fine cast and it should have been much better, but it has all the hallmarks of an international co-production - bad direction, leading to poor acting (an astonishingly hammy / embarrassing piece of acting from the usually good Burn Gorman),confusing storyline, poor sex scenes etc.. etc.. The whole thing just does not hang together and the ending is just appalling. The pretentious, intellectual mathematical mumbo jumbo spouted throughout just makes your eyes glaze over I'm afraid. If you are a discerning film watcher you will know exactly what I mean. There is NO WAY that this could even remotely be called good. It isn't anywhere near as entertaining as even Inspector Morse or Midsomer Murders so take my advice and give it a wide berth!
I hate Elijah Wood
posted on 04 Apr 2009The movie it's a 5. It has some good things; like photography, music, timing, of Alex De La Iglesia's style,but that's about it of Alex. Locations, if you like English classic style. Beside that the movie is a very common one. Everything happens also very quick and "easy".But I think that Elijah wood (represed gay who is in love with the professor,i don't know if he is gay in real life, but..... if i had to bet.... ; and the love scene with spaghetti; and "cliche" Podorov, ruin the movie for me.Watch it on DVDI don't read the novel, but the movie made me want to read it, i hope it's better.
Whodunnit, who cares?
posted on 19 Mar 2009Quite honestly, a murder mystery with no element of suspense whatsoever. By the time you get to the end of all the high-brow rubbish dialog, you really wish they'd all died.In the final sequence Wood's character reveals there has actually only been one murder and the subsequent deaths were made to look like murders by the arrogant professor (Hurt). This finally makes Wood realize that he has no respect left for Hurt's character whereas at the beginning of the film he was positively wetting his pants to be in his company.We are then expected to believe that a frivolous conversation Wood had with the murderer, led to the murder being committed and is therefore Wood's fault. Wood's character is left speechless and slumped on a chair. Hurt's pride resurrected, all of a sudden his views are to be respected again.Utter garbage!
It hurts in Oxford.
posted on 15 Mar 2009Shall I write that John Hurt easily steals the show from bland Elijah Wood whose wooden acting (no pun intended) is so glaring it's a wonder that the movie remains interesting throughout?A lot of nods to Lewis Carroll (a hint at the mad hatter),to Andrew Wiles (who really proved Fermat's theorem in 1993;why did they use another name in the movie?),and of course to Agatha Christie (the superintendent resembles David Suchet's Hercule Poirot and the plot owes a good deal to the lady of crime's "the ABC murders" ).French actor Dominique Pinon ("Delicatessen") appears in a small part but the movie belongs to John Hurt who is sensational in his part of an old maths and logic professor who thinks that's philosophy is dead and only maths are real (but abstract and having nothing to do with human life or nature ,in spite of the golden section or the Fibonacci series).The screenplay is meticulous at a time most of them are botched.The "erotic" scenes could have been edited out ,particularly the ridiculous scene of the spaghetti!The Guy Fawkes day 's celebration ,on the other hand ,is successful ,with nods to Alfred Hitchcock this time ("To catch a thief" "Blackmail" and "Vertigo" ).An entertaining good (not great) thriller.
Excellent adaption of the short story
posted on 21 Feb 2009For those who haven't read the Oxford Murders, it is a short story about an Argentinean maths student who comes to Oxford only to find that someone has murdered his landlady. The short story delves into mathematical theory in an attempt to solve a series of murders where the murderer leaves symbols, also in a potential series. Being a short story is does lack in depth and this is where this movie has taken this story and expanded on it. For those who are concerned that maths is not their thing, don't worry. The concepts are very well explained. It would be typical that these complex ideas are overly simplified and patronise the audience, but this is not case.A very good short story adapted into an excellent steady paced movie.
Unmemorable but distracting enough TV standard thriller
posted on 09 Feb 2009STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning American student Martin (Elijah Wood) arrives in Oxford on a foreign exchange programme and straight away gets tongue's wagging during a lecture when he challenges the theory of Professor Seldom (John Hurt) that maths doesn't hold the exact answer to everything. But this mismatched pair are thrown together when the first of a series of murders starts that seems to throw both their theories into disarray.Spanish director Isla de Iglesia's film The Oxford Murders opened to a pretty much non-existent audience earlier last year and arrived on DVD with barely a whimper too. It's daytime, Miss Marple esquire murder mystery presentation and unusually cheap looking opening title's sequence (how many production companies were behind it?) may be an indicator of why this was. Like most thrillers of this ilk, it's probably best seen twice to get your head round it, but hearing two men drone on about symbols and theories for just under two hours, however entertaining Hurt's pro waffling is, was never going to make for the most exciting viewing. Maths was never my favourite subject. **
A Tale of Geniuses Written by Idiots
posted on 24 Jan 2009Elijah Woods, a mystery-murder, Oxford and mathematical geniuses all appear like the plot to point to genius but in reality this is a poorly written whodunit with a lot of money behind it. This film would have you believe that Oxford is filled with lunatics, idiots, raving-geniuses and clueless cops. This film gave me a headache and the only thing that kept me going was the hope to see Leonor Watling topless. Its too bad this occurs 2/3 into the movie and by that time I was driven by masochistic curiosity to see how terribly this film would end.If you're hoping for a mildly entertaining film to be introduced to some advanced mathematics, logical reasoning, or philosophy don't watch this film as all the math, logic and philosophy discussed in this film a college student learns in his/her first year.The writers are arrogant fools who think that they are smarter than their audience and therefore can hide their lack of research and/or knowledge of advanced mathematics and philosophy behind a plethora of big words and fast speaking.I enjoyed Woods in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Hooligans and Sin City however this film will make me hesitate before seeing a film with him as the lead actor again.I seriously recommend that you not pay to watch this film unless you are doing so to see Leonor Watling topless for 2-3 seconds.
Two and two is four? I'm not even sure anymore …
posted on 24 Jan 2009And the Award for most drastic alteration of stylistic trademarks and choice in movies goes to … Alex de la Iglesia! Seriously, if you would watch "The Oxford Murders" without knowing he directed it, you'd never ever be able to make the link with his previous and very recognizable accomplishments, like "Day of the Beasts", "La Communidad", "800 Bullets" and "Perdita Durango". This is a very slow-brooding and atmosphere-driven thriller with an absolute lack of blackly humorous situations; whereas practically all the director's other films are a combination of shocks, thrills and especially pitch-black comedy. Hey, good for him! We ought to applaud filmmakers who're courageous enough to try something entirely new and different. And it also has to be said that "The Oxford Murders" turned out to be quite an absorbing and suspenseful whodunit-thriller with a (too?) convoluted plot, intelligent albeit far-fetched red herrings, copious references towards classic cinematic landmarks as well as historical figures and engaging acting performances from a prominent cast. The script was adapted from a novel written by Guillermo Martinez and – according to an acquaintance of mine who actually read it – the events in the film faithfully follow those in the book. The determined American math whiz kid Martin travels to Oxford University, hoping to meet and work together with his idol; professor Arthur Seldom. The professor rapidly turns out to be an obnoxious bastard who humiliates Martin during a lecture and in front of numerous fellow students. The two are united after all when they discover the body of Martin's brutally murdered landlady together. Whoever the culprit was, he/she left behind a note with mathematical symbols on it, which indicates that the murder was only the beginning of a series. Naturally intrigued by the crime, Martin and Professor Seldom team up to solve the puzzle but, considering the complexity of the mathematic puzzle, they can't prevent the deaths of more victims. Be advised this is just an extremely simplified summary of the plot, as "The Oxford Murders" actually is a non-stop one hundred and something minutes series of incomprehensible math formulas, philosophical theories, amateur-detective speculations and verbal showdowns between an elderly wise guy and a young rookie. The story is overall compelling and never really boring, but sometimes director de la Iglesia dedicates too much time to the extended depiction of small anecdotes that eventually turn out to be fairly irrelevant to the actual plot. The re-enactment of the medieval "perfect crime" killing, for example, where a barber described 14 methods to kill his wife. It's fascinating footage, but only just a dispensable anecdote more likely to raise confusion than to clarify a point. Even though the academic and illuminate mumbo-jumbo sounds impressive and makes you feel sophisticated, you definitely don't have to be a child prodigy in order keep up with the script's pacing and red herrings. The murders are incredibly tame (though for a good reason) and there are very few moments of genuinely grueling terror, with the notable exception of Prof. Seldom's limbless friend and his lobotomy experiments. As to be expected, The Oxford area forms a terrific location to shoot an old-fashioned mystery-thriller. The arty buildings and ancient libraries look grandiose and there's even time for some British history lessons, with the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day. John Hurt is once again sublime in his, by now trusted, role of arrogant elderly smart man and it's truly a joy to behold him when giving lectures. If I had a professor like Hurt when I was in college, I definitely would have attended more classes. Elijah Wood is pretty good as well, but – I'm very sorry – it's still impossible not to see him as the hairy-toed Hobbit looking for a precious ring. He could easily pass for a mathematical mastermind, I guess, but an irresistible womanizer?!? Martin's two love interests Lorna and Beth are charming and honestly affecting female characters. The actresses portraying them, respectively Leonor Watling and Julie Cox, are both heavenly beautiful and very talented women.
Average mystery movie
posted on 16 Aug 2009This is one of those films where a puzzle is presented in a particular environment and, while the different pieces of the puzzle are presented, that environment is revealed to the otherwise ignorant viewer. In the end, the puzzle is solved making the viewer feel either cheated (like "they didn't give me all the clues") or very smart ("I knew it!").Unfortunately, the murder is placed in Oxford, amongst mathematicians, but no math is presented anywhere in the movie! I mean, there is a scene when the lead is explaining what a Fibbonacci series is. That's it! Also, Oxford is a great scientific village, with a history and a lot of interesting things can be said about it. But the stage could have been set anywhere else and no one would have seen the difference.All that remains is the puzzle, which was interesting enough, but the pieces are revealed at such a pace that it is impossible to get it. Yeah, I felt cheated :) Anyway, this film could have been great, instead it turned into a more talkative Rivières Pourpres, with a lot less atmosphere.Bottom line: not worth watching it unless you accidentally catch it on TV.