The Em Ty Man

Directed by David Prior, The Em Ty Man follows James Badge Dale’s grizzled James as he agrees to assist in the search for a friend’s (Marin Ireland’s Nora) missing daughter. Filmmaker Prior, armed with his own screenplay, kicks The Em Ty Man off with a terrific, creepy prologue that seems to promise a compelling ghost story, so it’s fairly disappointing to note that the movie, beyond that point, segues into a midsection and second half focused almost entirely on tiresome elements and attributes – with this particularly true of the ongoing (and entirely tedious) emphasis on James’ investigation into the girl’s disappearance. And while the picture admittedly does include some striking moments and digressions, The Em Ty Man’s ludicrously overlong running time of 137 minutes (!), coupled with an often egregiously deliberate pace, prevents the various third-act revelations from packing the punch Prior has obviously intended – with the end result an ambitious misfire that might’ve worked had it topped out at an hour and a half.

** out of ****