''The Poison Rose'' (released internationally as ''Eye for an Eye'') is a 2019 American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

starring

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

. The film was directed by

George Gallo George Gallo Jr. (born January 1, 1956) is an American screenwriter, film director, producer, painter and musician. He is known for writing ''Midnight Run ''Midnight Run'' is a 1988 American road action comedy film directed by Martin Brest ...

and

Francesco Cinquemani Francesco Cinquemani is an Italian screenwriter, director, and journalist. Career He became author, screenwriter and director after a long career as a journalist and director of magazines. His debut in a fiction feature film is '' Andron'', fe ...

. It was written by Richard Salvatore, Francesco Cinquemani, and Luca Giliberto, based on Salvatore's novel of the same title. The film was released on May 24, 2019 by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

, and was panned by critics and audiences. The film was also a commercial failure, grossing only $323,754. The film received the best directing international award at the Terre di Siena Film Festival.

Plot

Set in 1978, the plot centers on Los Angeles

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

Carson Phillips. He is hired to conduct an investigation in his Texas hometown where mental facility patient Barbara Van Poole has been incommunicado for some time, which has her L.A.-based niece worried about her well-being. Upon reaching the

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

, he notices that the staff all look nervous when he asks for her. Dr. Miles, the head doctor, is evasive and strings him along for several days. Carson never gets to see Mrs Van Poole. He meets up with his ex, Jayne, and her daughter, Becky. Becky is married to the star quarterback, Happy. One night during a game, Happy suddenly dies and the police strongly suspect Becky. Jayne asks Carson for help. Becky was being abused by Happy, but since he was the star quarterback, the police would not arrest him. It is later learned Dr. Miles was killing off patients who were not financially supported by their families, Barbara Van Poole included, and collecting their social security money. Carson uncovers the truth and Dr. Miles is shot dead by a patient. Carson learns he is Becky’s father. Carson and Jayne reconcile and he finds a bottle of cancer pills. This same substance was found in Happy's blood. He accuses her of "doing anything to protect her daughter" and realizes that she was the one who poisoned Happy. Becky comes out and asks her if she did it. At first Jayne denies everything, but then admits that she thought that Happy would kill Becky and since she herself did not have long to live, no one would be left to protect her daughter. Becky forgives her. The movie ends with Carson stating that he was going to go home, then realizes he is home, implying he stays with his ex and daughter instead of going back to Los Angeles.

Cast

Production

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Forest Whitaker, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award ...

was previously in talks to portray Dr. Mitchell before Brendan Fraser assumed the role. Principal photography took place in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, in June 2018 and continued in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

after the summer.

Release

The film was released on May 24, 2019 by

. The film was dedicated in memory of Steve and Geraldine Salvatore, the parents of Richard Salvatore, who wrote the novel, ''The Poison Rose''.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 30 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The Guardian described it as a "ridiculous and mostly boring hardboiled thriller".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poison Rose, The 2019 films American crime thriller films American detective films Films based on American novels Films directed by George Gallo Films set in 1978 Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state) Lionsgate films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films