The backdrop of Baltimore in the 1800's sets the tone of this underrated murder mystery. Cusack plays the part perfectly, think Sherlock Holmes without the annoying traits. He manages to come across as a tortured soul with a sense of humor. Once his bride to be goes missing the movie shifts into overdrive until the final scene. A bit of a slow start butthere is plenty of character development and the movie plays out perfectly. With several gory murder scenes, I can see how this missed out on a PG-13 rating. The relationship between Poe and the investigator and his bride's father is worth the extra running time to appreciate the change that occurs from beginning to end. Just wish Cusack was willing to put out more movies as he is one of the best actors to come around in our time.

The trailer had left me disappointed but the film went down very easily. I knew a lot about it already so I wasn't expecting an authentic Poe biography as it were. I thought Cusack's performance was mesmerising. He really pulled out all the stops!

I sat through 20 minutes of it...I'll never get that time back again. Besides the horrible acting, and unbelievable premise, the writing was atrocious. Either speak in proper 1849 venacular or modern, don't mix it up. Poe is rolling over in his grave.