AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

jm10701 I have been spoiled by watching non-American movies. I used to say European movies, but movies from South America, some parts of Asia, and even Mexico are now as good as European movies. What movies from other countries often have that American movies almost never have is subtlety. Whether it's comedy, drama, suspense, sex, or any other genre, American movie makers assume American audiences have to be hit over the head with whatever they're watching or they won't get it.In this movie, for example, when Son catches Dad with Girlfriend in Hotel, then when Dad and Son catch Younger Gay Son in Cabin, EVERYBODY has to overact, so that the audience will be sure to get the point that bad stuff is happening. Why, oh why does Hollywood think we're stupid? Is it because we are? Maybe. In any case, this movie's drama is far too heavy-handed for me.In less than ten minutes, I already know everything there is to know about these three characters, and I'm willing to bet the "twists" other reviewers rave about are the same oh-so-predictable "twists" Hollywood has been delighting noise-deafened, brain-dulled audiences with since Witness for the Prosecution 60 years ago. I'd much rather have to take time and figure out for myself what's going on between characters than be hit so hard by the director and actors with such a heavy drama hammer that it leaves me reeling and nauseous.

Robert J. Maxwell Two escaped convicts step out of the woods and shoot two campers in the head. That's the first scene, and it made me wince, fearing what was in store. But by the end of the first half hour I was all swept up in the flood of images. Not because I cared in the least about any of the characters but because I was aghast at how execrable the film was and was curious to see how truly low it could sink.Frank (Remar) and Red (Woolvett) are the ex-inmates. After murdering the two innocent campers they plow through the woods and wangle their way into the isolated cabin of Dean Stockwell and his two sons, the attorney Keith and the estranged homosexual Behr. The escapees at first pretend their car has broken down and they need to use the phone, but they gradually reveal their identities.Well, it looks like familiar territory so far. "Desperate Hours," or "Funny Games" maybe. But -- hang on -- the gay son is in cahoots with the two. It seems that Stockwell, upon discovering his son in flagrante delicto with another man named Billy, kicked Billy around and threw him out. Billy went on to die and Behr now blames his Dad for the death. And, indeed, Dad is something of a Neanderthal when it comes to paraphilias, the fact that he was just found cohabiting with a secretary notwithstanding.The grief-stricken Behr just searched and searched, looking for someone else who had known Billy, someone with whom he could share his despair. It turned out to be one of the escapees, and now Behr is determined to see them to their freedom.It gets all twisted after that. People talk. They talk and talk. They talk continually. And NOT about the two mad killers who just can't wait to put one between their eyes. No -- the dialog goes something like, "You were just so scared of something inside yourself that you even drove away your own SON." That's Behr, the young gay guy, talking to Stockwell. It's as if an afternoon domestic drama had had its genes mixed with a killer thriller in some kind of transformational device or cocktail shaker.The only real performance is given by James Remar as the more talkative and ominous of the two escapees. And that's mainly because of his gruff but fluid baritone, which sounds like Lance Henrickson's, and his wide guppy-like lips. He's easy on the eyes and ears.Dean Stockwell has given decent performances, including his inestimable bizarro turn in "Blue Velvet," in which he was my supporting player, but here laziness, advancing years, or slack direction has shaped his every move and every utterance into a stereotype. It's as if he were reading stage directions -- "Look surprised" and "shout angrily" -- and following them literally. There's not a surprise in a cartload.If the gay son, Jason Behr, ever blinked, it must have been while I was blinking at the same time because I missed it. He has a long neck and just one expression in his instrument. Woolvett as the secondary villain fades into the pine-knot paneled woodwork. The attorney son is Robert Glen Keith. I hope he didn't quit his day job.The direction is pedestrian, the staging functional without being in the least innovative. Sometimes it's confusing. I lost track of where everyone was supposed to be as the killers are circling around on the cabin's porch and the family has locked itself inside with a shotgun. I also couldn't understand how Stockwell could put a blast through the cabin's door, hit Remar, and knock him in a back flip off the porch, and then Remar could simply stand up, dust himself off, and come up with a cranky riposte like, "Okay. Two can play that game." But why go on? See it if you must.

Galder-Sang Watching this I often wondered if the author had either a family or an understanding oh conflicts resulting from homosexuality in the family. The dialogue was forced. It was the stuff of melodramatic hallmark cards. It was as if god descended down from on high with a mawkish script and gave it to five simple mortal men to read on a set that steels the show.Cameron is a weak character. He has the emotions of an adolescent. Losing one love he searches for him for months only to become the unwitting pawn of a convict. He has been smitten because anyone who is willing to love him is absolved of all character flaws or even manslaughter. Huh? What? Cameron is unrealistic. Lose one love, naturally start written letters to a prison inmate (who has been in there for how long?) about the where abouts of your recently missing flame. No one who is "Smarter than you think" would fall for a plot hole that large.The performances aren't bad for a low budget indi. Some family could have been explored in a way that would have been poignant for a 1999 film; however, the context is all wrong. One focuses more on the wicked homosexual Cameron than on the genuine issues the film tries to raise about acceptance, homosexuality, what it means to be a family, and love.

juststacey I bought this video because of my interest in Jason Behr of "Roswell." I want to reassure other fans that this film is worth viewing. The plot is far-fetched and lots of the dialogue is predictable, but Jason Behr looks great and has plenty of screen time to satisfy any fan. There are no gay sex scenes and the violence is nothing you haven't seen before--not extreme or particularly gory. The film is mainly a character study about the relationship between fathers and sons. I would recommend it to fans of the actors involved, but not really in general. But Jason is HOT!