I was kind of curious how the makers of Tell-Tale got such a fantastic cast-not Carla Gugino, who’s terrible and seemingly cast only for her willingness to strip down to lingerie (as usual), but Adam Arkin and Clifton Collins Jr. Even Jesse Spencer is way too good for this kind of thing.

Turns out it’s Gugino’s production (writer Sebastian Gutierrez is her boyfriend), not some short where the caliber of the script got it a great cast.

Gutierrez’s script is laughably bad, contriving all sorts of instances (Spencer is an undercover cop who disappears, meaning the police have to be involved instead). If the film had just been Arkin and Gugino, had Gutierrez understood how to layer a narrative, it might have worked.

Gugino would still be bad, but that one’s an inevitability.

Williams’s direction shows mild competence. Arkin and Collins are great.

But it’s a weak effort.

Not Recommended

CREDITS

Directed by Greg Williams; screenplay by Sebastian Gutierrez, based on an idea by Gutierrez, Carla Gugino and Williams and inspired by a story by Edgar Allan Poe; directors of photography, Stephen J. Nelson and Williams; edited by Amir Heshmati; production designer, Danielle Clemenza; produced by Bob Ford and Gugino; released by iTunes.

Starring Carla Gugino (Wife), Adam Arkin (Husband), Jesse Spencer (Lover) and Clifton Collins Jr. (Detective).