Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Howard Barnett Spoiler alert: the movie is pretty much nothing but gratuitous violence. Do yourself a favor and watch something fun. (Didn't realize this was based on a Steven king story, now that you know, you know a little more of what to expect, I didn't.)The problem with gratuitous violence themes is they can be sickening as they create the necessary angst to get you rooting for a bad end for the bad guy, as this one does. Although not terribly graphically gross, the theme is sickening; the antagonist is sufficiently repugnant to get one's contempt. And from there the story follows a predictable line: what will our protagonist do to get revenge. What he does is as unlikely as it is uncreative. In the end, as usual, antagonist suffers a relatively short lasting demise as payback for - as usual, our protagonist's story-long suffering. ...and one which is, as mentioned, difficult to fathom: (protagonist has, as usual in these types of movies, an unrealistic amount of time and resources to pull off his revenge ploy)

SnoopyStyle Robinson (Wes Bentley) and his wife Elizabeth (Emmanuelle Vaugier) are fellow school teachers. Elizabeth is horse riding in the desert and runs across human traffickers. The fans in the truck broke down killing some of the girls. Elizabeth witnesses gangster pimp Jimmy Dolan (Christian Slater) killing the drivers and one girl trying to escape. She rides away but loses her phone. The couple reports it to the police but he is uninterested in the illegals. They go home to find one of the dead girls in their bed and they go to the FBI. She's committed to testifying but is killed in a car bomb. Robinson falls into a deep depression and then aims to take revenge. Meanwhile Dolan is disagreeing on payment with the Snakeheads.Christian Slater is chewing up the screen. He is a good bad guy. Wes Bentley has crazy eyes. He looks like he's permanently tense. It doesn't allow him to change his character's feelings and the character goes through a lot of changes. It's one of the big problems. The other problem is the general lack of production value. I assume it's due to a lower budget and won't fault the movie for it. It has the basis of a good psychological thriller but Wes is not able to deliver it completely.

nateroofams I must start my review with the expression and/or term "WOW". The main thought with the the expression/term "WOW" is that this production receives a 5.7 vote. This score does not shock me since the production only has a meager amount of votes. Evidently the cast, producers, stage managers, costume designers, homeless people that take bribes, co-producers, and others involved in this film can vote.I often sit at home and wonder how I can apply construction experience to the revenge on a murderer that took the life of a loved one. I then contemplate an elaborate scheme that has so many flaws that only a person in the industry could point out. Shame on Christian Slater (although I always enjoy his attempt to never change his haircut in the last two decades) and Stephen King for this nightmare idea based on his short story.Many times on the job when I am working really hard I wonder how my face gets so dirty (not really, it is the 21st century...labor is over...if a machine can't do it, it doesn't get done). I then ponder why I am shovelling dirt (straticically staged in front of a backhoe) with such great effort one shovel at a time for hours...if not days while a perfectly capable machine is sitting there eager to reduce hours and days of work.One of the many riveting parts of this masterpiece is a lesson. When trapped in a vehicle with overburden material being placed from above(soil in this case) and all four (4) sides of your Cadillac Escalade (2007 - 2010 model) trapped in a vertical hole approximately 10' deep rectangular with absolutely no vertical deficiencies and there is only one escape route (up) what do you do? A) shoot your fully loaded 9mm handgun out the window and through the roof with no hopes of hitting a target or improving your situation, B) choose to remain in the vehicle while being buried alive while using method (A) and screaming annoyingly, or C) put one shot through the moon/sun roof, carefully escape and continue a competitive gig in the prostitution ring of NV? My stomach churns with disgust. Honestly I was hoping for a "True Romance" performance from Christian and a "American Beauty" performance from Billy Badass, Aka - Construction Worker/School Teacher/Murderer/I ruined my acting career by not only accepting but following through with this role.I applaud this films production and acting. This movie gives hope to everyone that thought creating a movie and acting in a movie was only for select individuals. Now we all know (if you've viewed this fantastic portrait of a poetic, classic and historic piece) that our childhood dreams are now not only possible but can easily surpass the the previous rendering that talents were preffered in the business.

darkdragon8987 This movie totally rocks!! Especially for all of you who fell in love with Christian Slater's performance in "Heather's". He has this "face" that just cannot be duplicated- the eyes, that grin, the eyebrows, the wicked voice. But he never could really grasp that perfection again. Oh, he was GREAT in "Murder in the First"; GOOD in "Untamed Heart", "Hard Rain", "Broken Arrow", and "True Romance"; OKAY in "The Contender", "Young Guns 2", "Robin Hood"; and although "Pump Up the Volume" was a little weird, it was actually enjoyable. My point is, after "Heathers", it took Slater 22 YEARS to again reach that perfect character. He (being the bad guy), performed his BEST acting ,since "Heathers", in this movie. Very memorable performance. And the perfect role for him. Then there's Wes Bentley- mostly known for his "dark" roles ( I mean, look at that face, those eyes- he just screams those types of roles!). But after great performances in movies like "Ghost Rider", "American Beauty", "Soul Survivors", "The Ungodly", and "P2", you will be pleasantly surprised with Wes' role in this movie. He's a man in pain, after losing his wife to a killer, yet he's kind of hard to figure out. Yeah, he's gonna go after the guy for revenge, but it's his methods that kind of confuse you. You're actually completely unsure of Wes' full intentions until THE very end of the movie. If you're a smoker, you'll want to go for a smoke, if you're not, you might want a cigarette anyway! The cool thing about the movie as a whole is, the fact that there's not fifty characters running around , to keep up with. Just a handful of great performances from beginning to end. And the movie does us the favor of going straight from the beginning to the end, without a lot of bullshit, stalling, or boring periods of time to endure. I couldn't think of anything that I would change, or add to this movie. It was moving, exciting, sad, eerie, unpredictable, and definitely original. No, I haven't read the book, and I don't intend to- I haven't had a movie "grip" me in this way in a long time, and I don't want to chance altering that. I have to add, that Al Sapienza, who I had NEVER heard of in my life, was also excellent in this movie. He has a certain "it" factor going on, and he played his role well.( Nice on the eyes, as well). My opinion: If you like a good thriller (not horror), with continuous entertainment from beginning to the end, then you have got to check out this movie. ( Especially those of you, like me, that have been desperately waiting for Christian Slater to "push" that "bar" again- HE FINALLY DID IT!! GAVE IT 100%!!). Enjoy.