In Theaters

The Raven

Movie Details

The Raven
  • Genre: Suspense/Thriller
  • Release Date: 2012-04-27 Nationwide
  • Running Time: 103 min.
  • Director: James McTeigue
  • Cast: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
  • Producers: Jesus Martinez Ascencio, Mark D. Evans, Trevor Macy, Aaron Ryder
  • Writers: Ben Livingston, Hannah Shakespeare
  • Distributor: Relativity Media
  • Official Site: The Raven Official Site

At the height of his literary fame, Edgar Allan Poe, who popularized cryptography in his story "The Gold Bug," was so renowned as a code-breaker that his public would eagerly submit encoded messages for the writer to cipher. The Raven, which stars John Cusack as Poe, his goatee the least of the film's historical liberties, imagines a variation on this reader-meet-author game of wits. In Baltimore, 1849--the place and time of Poe's death--a serial killer puts out a challenge to the dissipated Poe, committing murders copycatted from his Tales, each crime scene containing a clue to string the author along to the next fresh atrocity. Poe's tenuous social position is glossed over--the screenplay, by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare, insists on making Poe just a regular lusty all-American fella at heart, overfond of a drink, perhaps, but committed to his pet raccoon, Carl (!), and to winning fair Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve), the belle of Baltimore, away from her wealthy but philistine father (Brendan Gleeson). All trace of Poe or his time is quickly lost. Director James McTeigue might have salvaged something by taking the trashiness of the material at face value, but instead delivers a film wedged uncomfortably between self-serious period-piece solemnity--Cusack is clearly committed to the part, but working in a vacuum--and slavering sadism.

Nick Pinkerton
VOICE Daily Deals

Now Showing

Find capsule reviews, showtimes & tickets for all films in town.

Powered By VOICE Places
Denver Event Tickets

Box Office

  1. Iron Man 3, 72.5 mil, 284.9 mil
  2. The Great Gatsby, 50.1 mil, 50.1 mil
  3. Pain & Gain, 5.0 mil, 41.6 mil
  4. Peeples, 4.6 mil, 4.6 mil
  5. 42, 4.6 mil, 84.7 mil
  6. Oblivion, 4.1 mil, 81.9 mil
  7. The Croods, 3.6 mil, 173.2 mil
  8. Mud, 2.5 mil, 8.6 mil
  9. The Big Wedding, 2.5 mil, 18.3 mil
  10. Oz The Great and Powerful, 1.1 mil, 230.3 mil
Movie Title, Weekly Earnings, Total Earnings

Movie Trailers

©2013 Denver Westword, LLC, All rights reserved.
Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places Denver / Boulder

    Voice Places

    Find everything you're looking for in your city

  • Happy Hour App

    Happy Hour App

    Find the best happy hour deals in your city

  • Daily Deals

    Daily Deals

    Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city

Join
Log In