| Overall Grade: |
C- |
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| Story: |
C- |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
C- |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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It Could Have Been Great
by Patty L (movies profile)
Dec 8, 2007
125
of
191 people found this review helpful
This could have been a great, Oscar-quality movie, if it had been better developed. Examples: 1. the split between Sean and his wife: Why did she leave? Why did she return? Who is she? The viewer wasn't aware of a pregnancy/baby until the end. 2. How did Sean surmise that Jimmy killed "Just Ray" and had been sending Brendan $500/month for years? No body was ever found. How would this lead Sean to surmise that Jimmy also killed Dave? Why, as an officer of the law, did he not bring in Jimmy for questioning on the disappearances of "Just Ray" and Dave? 3. I was totally disappointed when Sean explained to Jimmy that there was no apparent reason for his daughter's murder; that the gun just went off accidentally. I assumed, early one, that Brendan's brother, Ray, Jr., was involved. However, my reasoning was because Ray was jealous of the girl and did not want to lose Brendan and their close relationship when they eloped to Las Vegas.
Character development was minimal, at best. I expected more revelation of Dave's tortured past than the brief references given. It was obvious, in the beginning of the film, that he was the weakest/most hesitant of the three youths. I expected more of an emotional breakdown when he admittd the names of the pedophiles to his wife. I expected more "disturbing" flashbacks -- more film noir. So much was alluded to and most was not delivered. The film would build to a point, go in a specific direction where the viewer would expect a point to be made, and then the film would veer in an entirely different direction with no effort made to making the point at hand.
It also made no point for Sean to go with the Savage brothers and stay with them and Jimmy in the bar so long without him figuring out what was in store. The whole sequence outside the bar before Sean's murder was entirely too dragged out.
Finally, the film should have concluded with Jimmy walking down the street with the pint of Jack Daniels. It made no sense to zoom in on Sean and his wife. This story was never developed throught the film, it made no difference when she finally spoke and her face was shown, because I didn't know who she was anyway and, at that point, didn't care. And as for the parade at the end, so what? An unresolved movie with too many loose ends and not enough information to justify most of the movie's actions. |
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