Netflix’s ‘Reptile’ Has a Justin Timberlake Problem

No matter the project, Benicio del Toro is always great. The new Netflix original film Reptile, a slow-burn thriller that ends up being low on thrills, is no exception. But the movie never lives up to the potential of its leading man, and a major reason for that is an out-of-his-depth No. 2: Justin Timberlake.

The pop star has been making headlines of late courtesy of his long-awaited reunion with *NSYNC. Last week, the beloved group released a single, "Better Place," for Timberlake's animated threequel Trolls Band Together. Not only is the new song a genius marketing move for the kids' movie, but it's also the perfect distraction from Timberlake's lackluster performance in Reptile.

Co-written by director Grant Singer and Del Toro, Reptile stars the Oscar-winning actor as Tom Nichols, a talented detective with a complicated past who, following the murder of a young real estate agent, must unwind a conspiracy involving his fellow cops and the town's wealthy elite. (Clearly, the creative team took inspiration from the popular HBO anthology series True Detective.) Timberlake plays Will Grady, the boyfriend of the victim and the heir to his family's successful real estate business.

Unsurprisingly, Del Toro is as watchable as ever, whether he's line dancing with Alicia Silverstone or just sitting there, pondering. But he's not exempt from movies that aren't as good as they should be (damn, Savages sounded fire on paper!). While a great script and a talented auteur are key to any project (it's unclear if Reptile has either), Del Toro's best movies feature him opposite other high-caliber actors. They might not always be at his level, but they can at least hold their own. Think of his Oscar-nominated turn in 2003's 21 Grams, which sees him going head-to-head with Sean Penn, Melissa Leo and Naomi Watts. Or 2015's Sicario, where almost every scene he's in also features Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Bernthal or Emily Blunt.

Unfortunately, Timberlake is nowhere near the same category as those actors. Putting Timberlake in an interrogation room and asking him to go tick for tack with Del Toro is like pulling me out of LA Fitness and asking me to guard LeBron James — it's just not fair! Forget Del Toro; Timberlake also has a couple of scenes with Michael Pitt, who, as difficult as he allegedly is to work with, is a real talent. Pitting Timberlake against Pitt feels like a tough beat.

To be fair, Timberlake has proved to be a capable performer at times during his acting career. The 2007 crime drama Alpha Dog remains underrated and helped launch a lot of young stars, including Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Anton Yelchin, Amanda Seyfried, and Olivia Wilde. And then there's Timberlake's signature turn in The Social Network as Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who became a central figure in the early days of Facebook. Timberlake nails writer Aaron Sorkin's depiction of Parker as both smarmy and charming, making it easy for audiences to see why Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) became enamored with him and why his partner, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), was suspicious of him.

But the early upward trajectory of Timberlake's acting prospects soon came crashing down with a string of failures that showed he was no leading man. After In Time, Trouble With the Curve and Runner Runner, Timberlake seemed to accept his fate, sticking to musical film gigs, such as Inside Llewyn Davis and the Trolls series, with the exception of Woody Allen's poorly-reviewed Wonder Wheel and the 2021 Apple+ dud Palmer.

In Reptile, Timberlake is set up as either the red herring or the killer, and after two-plus hours of buildup, the actual reveal isn't interesting or shocking enough to be worth the mystery. While a better actor would hardly make Reptile a masterpiece, Timberlake has a few opportunities to go big or flip a switch, but it never works. In the end, it might just be that when we watch Justin Timberlake, we're always just going to see Justin Timberlake. Clearly, as one of the biggest stars of his generation, he's great at being JT — so maybe it's time for that to be enough for him.