Movie with Abe: Grey Lady

Grey Lady
Directed by John Shea
Released April 28, 2017

Getting past the death of a loved one is a difficult process, and it can made considerably harder by the means of passing. When someone is murdered, it’s exponentially more difficult, especially if the culprit remains at large, meaning that not only has someone been taken, but another could easily be next. Hopefully this isn’t something that many in the real world have to contend with, and certainly not on the scale that it’s represented in film and television. If nothing else, the need to settle a score and make things as right as they can be is a unifying feature of all such productions.

Boston police officer Doyle (Eric Dane) is already reeling from the death of his sister, and the murder of his partner only sends him deeper into mourning. A visit to Nantucket to try to track down clues is strictly off-book, and in addition to the gloomy aura of death that Doyle brings with him, he begins to realize that he and those he cares about are being specifically targeted. He forms a connection with a local woman, Melissa (Natalie Zea), but that may well put her in the same danger as he uncovers unsettling secrets about his own family and past that may serve as the explanation for present-day events.

Dane and Zea are both TV stars who got their starts on popular ABC shows with bigger names - “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Dirty Sexy Money,” respectively - and have now ascended to leading roles on successful cable series - “The Last Ship” and “The Detour,” respectively - that properly use their talents and give them a new chance to shine. This, sadly, couldn’t be further from that, drowning in misery and severely lacking in logic. It’s much closer to Zea’s unfortunate role on “The Following,” a series that portrayed disturbed villains prone to psychological meltdowns yet somehow able to stay several steps ahead of the good guys at every juncture.

This film’s title is meant to invoke the off-season fogginess of its setting, and while it does that, all it manages to contribute is excessive dreariness that makes this film’s completely unappealing - and unconvincing - plot even less enticing. The convoluted story doesn’t pan itself out in a worthwhile fashion, and there isn’t much to salvage here in this forgettable film that doesn’t use any of its assets, actors or location, anywhere near as well as it could have.

D