‘In the Hand of Dante’ Review: Oscar Isaac's Julian Schnabel Collab Is Too Self-Serious to Be Taken Seriously

By William Bibbiani

Well, at least it’s pretty to look at.

Julian Schnabel’s pretentious new opus “In the Hand of Dante” stars Oscar Isaac as real-life journalist, novelist and poet Nick Tosches, who gets sucked into a criminal conspiracy to steal a manuscript of “The Divine Comedy,” allegedly written in Dante Alighieri’s own handwriting. In flashbacks, Isaac also plays Dante himself, who struggles to complete his epic trilogy while coming to terms with his exile, his spiritual failings and his loveless marriage. Lots of people get killed. Lots of navels also get gazed.