On October 3, 1849 Edgar Allan Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, delirious, calling out the name Reynolds. The last few days of his life remains a mystery in the real world. There have been lots of speculations and theories as to what Poe died of, from tuberculosis, rabies or to a drunken bender. "The Raven" puts forth a more romantic angle to this mystery and spawns a detective story around the death of the man who invented the modern detective novel.
John Cusack, who plays Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven, is a penniless drunk. He goes on with his life on the money he gets from The Baltimore Times for writing acerbic reviews of other writers' work to keep him in the booze. When he is sober, he is busy wooing the the daughter of Colonel Hamilton, Emily (Alice Eve). But things go awry when a mysterious figure kidnaps Emily and leaves trails for Poe by murdering people in a fashion similar to some of Poe's own works. Now its upto Poe to demystify the clues and find Emily while the time runs out.
Juhn Cusack has always been my favorite. I admired him since the time of Con Air and Serendipity. And I must say that he is simply brilliant playing the character of Edgar Allan Poe. He may or may not have any similarity to the actual master of modern detective novels, but John Cusack portrays Poe in his own way, much similar to Robert Downey Jr's sketching of Sherlock Holmes.
The setting of the movie seemed quite authentic. It was given a gloomy Sleepy Hollow kind of a look. And although you don't see much of a character development yet they feel quite authentic. But if anyone expecting dark melancholia and madness will probably not like this film, I would say that its for people who are familiar with Poe's works. The film has gore, so if you can't stand that I would recommend you not to watch it. I admit that it's not a Hostel or a SAW, but there is ample gore and blood. The Raven is a movie that is to be enjoyed for its sheer myteriosity (damn, I just invented a new word!).
I am sure that irrespective of whether you are A fan of Edgar Allan Poe or whether you enjoy a mystery movie, you would find enough reasons to like The Raven.
