JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

higuain_51 This is the most underrated movie i've ever seen. I suggest everbody to watch this.

Christopher Shobris I am baffled at the misinterpretations of the critics when it comes to this film. I watched this film without any opinions from critics, therefore I went in with a clear, fresh mind who is seeing this for the first time. Needless to say, I was blown away by this film. I don't know what the critic's problems are, but its completely overlooked. The one thing that stands out in this is Kevin Bacon. A performance sadly unrecognized by the Oscars, as I firmly believe this is Oscar-worthy. I've never seen Bacon play a role as complex as this one, and he plays it the best way anyone could have done. Christian Slater in one of the few standout performances in his mild career, sorry to say. The comradery between Slater and Bacon was like magic. They worked wonderfully off of each other. Gary Oldman is as good as always. The story is compelling enough to keep the interest afloat. All in all this could have been a lot worse, I'd even call it a good film. Its not groundbreaking like Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile, but it holds its own as a surprising film for any film enthusiast to enjoy. Now to grade. Story: B+ Characters: A- Acting: A Music: B+ Sets/Effects: A- Overall: A-

lathe-of-heaven When I read Msroz's review I thought, 'Yep, that's it all right...' While watching this I was really trying to figure out what was wrong with it. The technical aspects and cinematography were excellent and the performances themselves were quite good, especially Kevin Bacon's.BUT... the reviewer hit right on it and I agree. To me, there were just TOO many artificially inserted elements and distractions that I feel were put in in order to give it 'Authenticity'. However, all the grating voice-overs of newsmen and announcers, and a number of other little things, just seemed irritating and I feel greatly detracted from what COULD have otherwise been an excellent film. I think what it came down to were the stylistic choices of the director. I looked up his other films and other than 'WHERE THE DAY TAKES YOU' prior to this film (I have not see it) it doesn't seem like he has really done that much of any import, and has done nothing since, which is kind of odd. Although he did pass away at a rather young age in 2009.I think he DID bring out some nice things that were important and helpful to the story. And, like I mentioned, the performances overall were very good. My lowly and wretched impression is that the director, while having some really good ideas, tried TOO dang hard to add SO many little touches that, if done well, COULD have been called 'Stylish', but ultimately to me anyway just struck me as artificial and somewhat jarring to the overall flow of the movie. I don't mind a highly stylized film if it is done well or even if just the style alone is what makes a movie interesting enough to watch. But, that isn't the case here...It is a shame too, because like the comment that you often hear, 'You KNOW that there's a good movie in there somewhere', in this case I feel that is true. If it just hadn't been for the 'Death of 1000 cuts', so to speak (or perhaps, directorial choices) the movie could have been pretty good. There really ARE some great moments in the film, but unfortunately many of these are lost amongst all the 'stylistic choices' that kind of water everything down, unfortunately...I don't know, many here DO indeed seem to like this film, and it DOES have a kind of 'Classic' feel to it which I liked. Perhaps I am just being a little too particular or critical of the way the director handled a lot of the film. Maybe, others may just be able to sit back and enjoy it.I think it would depend on how sensitive or demanding you are with your films and whether you would NOTICE these things I mentioned or whether they would even end up bothering you. But, to me anyway, they did kind of stand out and ultimately diminish the impact of the film.So, I hope that gives you at least some insight, or at least MY impression of the film and helps you decide whether it is the kind of movie that you would like...

akent35 It has always been baffling to me why this excellent film is hardly recognized! As others have so correctly remarked, the acting by Kevin Bacon and Christian Slater was top notch! And, the story is played out to perfection, along with being so, so inspiring. Almost all of the scenes in the court room also enhance those qualities. And, of course, Gary Oldman is Gary Oldman, that is, an excellent actor no matter what role he plays.A number of our friends have actually never heard of this movie. But, when one of them subsequently watched it, she remarked how good a movie it is.This film, along with "Awakenings", both need to be given so much more notoriety. I can watch either of them numerous times, and never be bored.