A movie that succeeds where thousands have failed: The Secret in Their Eyes

"The Secret in their Eyes" definitely jumps to the top of the list as one of the best movies of 2010, even one of the best of the decade - a totally compelling story with lots of surprises and an absolutely terrifying end (which I will not even hint at) - a story so smart, it succeeds where thousands of movies have failed, right from its premise: starts with an aging man whom we soon learn is a retired jurist (in Argentina) who's trying to write a novel that is obviously based on a case he dealt with when he was a court investigator (the exact roles of the officials not ever totally clear to an American viewer but it doesn't matter much); the case was a brutal rape-murder, and a lot of things went wrong during the investigation. So first of all its a police procedural and a really good one. Also a strange and tormented love story, as the man (Esposito) shows his manuscript to the fellow investigator whom he loved way back then - she plays a big role in the investigation, but their lives go off on separate paths, till now. So we see the novel he's writing, his present-day life as he reconnects with the beautiful former colleague, further investigations in the present, and the suffering he feels as he tries to capture the truth and to write a good book. Part of the beauty is that Esposito is obviously not a good writer, his manuscript leaves out all the important emotions, but we see that full story in this great movie that embraces the manuscript. It's about love and politics and vengeance - a total knockout that in a better world would have a wide audience.