It is not a good movie, though it certainly isn’t the disaster I was expecting, either. It is about two-thirds of a serviceable thriller. That’s not bad for January.

It is good entertainment, doubling as a history lesson. The fact that it makes us consider how crimes are covered today, and how criminals get turned into instant, polarizing, celebrities, is the cherry on top of the sundae.

It is well-cast, pretty and a little too serious, considering how silly the plot is. It may not be completely faithful, but it is an accurate representation of the book.

If you can look past the surface of the story, dig into what it is trying to say, this is a pretty significant project.

It is predictable, with dim characters, a slow pace and no sense of location whatsoever. But then there are bursts of surprising cleverness and some genuinely funny moments.

It is a little uneven, repetitive at times, with an ending that makes the story feel sort of pointless. But it is also cleverly made, with likable characters and a constant sense of overwhelming dread hanging over every second.

A powerful performance from Danielle Deadwyler lifts this as high as it goes, but it seems to forget its purpose along the way, stumbling toward a blood-soaked anticlimax.

The screenplay is not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, basically hiding its truths while treading water so that it can surprise us at the end.

This is very skillful genre filmmaking, with an understated, no-nonsense, flair. It’s a pleasure to watch.

While the story itself is incredible, as presented here, it just isn’t very interesting.