Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Odelecol
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
cheesemaster696
I won't go on describing the plot outline as you can get that from just about any other review on here. All I will say is that the film is far above the expectations of most people, but in truth isn't as amazing as some people make it out to be.It is well written and directed and the acting is reasonably good. The "brilliant twist" at the end to me felt like it was done just to follow the formula of these films, and didn't really feel like it was a natural part of the script. Also, it was quite predictable.But don't dismiss it, and if you have a chance do watch it, it won't be a waste of your time (unless your idea of a good film is Vin Diesel shooting things or racing flash cars for 2 hours).
NickRisch
Why did they have to ruin the plot at the beginning, when the priest (Arliss Howard) mentions that they had to kill one of them? If they had left that part out, the story would have far more suspenseful, especially the last scene in the cabin. Remember in the movie "Seven" (Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman)? Now that ending blew me away; not a hint about how that was playing out. Otherwise this movie is a must-see. The writing was brilliant, except for the spoiler part.
Michael O'Keefe
A very talented double cast of characters and excellent use of flashbacks makes for a very good dark drama. Four young friends meet in an abandon quarry and a devious prank turns into an accidental double murder. The four go their separate ways and meet again as adults when the authorities get close to solving the crime by tracing the gun back to one of the four. Now the four turn on each other in order to protect themselves.The four adult friends are played by David Paymer, Tom Goldwyn, Arlis Howard and Colm Feore. Their younger counterparts are Adam Scott, Jonathan Scarfe, Marc Warden and Steven Petrarca. Both sets of actors were brilliant. Not exactly predictable and enough tension to curl the hair on the back of your neck. One minute you feel sorry for each of these characters and then a few moments later you want to slap a knot on them yourself. Suspense and nail biting galore. You wear yourself out just watching.
FlickJunkie-2
This film was one of the best I've seen of its kind in quite some time. This is a psychological drama about four friends, who 22 years ago unintentionally committed a double homicide and then successfully covered it up. Now the police have discovered one of the bodies and a gun they can link to one of the four. The story unfolds as the friends, who haven't spoken since the event, come together to decide how to handle the situation. Throughout the drama, the story flashes back to the original story when they were teenagers, so you really have two suspenseful interconnected stories unfolding simultaneously. The film shows the twisted judgments made by desperate men in a crisis situation. It was difficult not to be asking oneself, `What would I do in that situation?' I really only had one plot criticism and that is why did the police not ask about the destroyed TV set? If you see the film, you will know what I mean.The film was excellent in almost every regard. The story was gripping with numerous plot twists that kept the viewer guessing as to what would happen next, all the way to the end. The portrayals of these frantic characters on the brink of distraction, desperately trying to come up with a solution that would keep them out of jail was riveting. The direction and photography was very good, without the need for special sets or effects.The acting was terrific. Colm Fiore was outstanding as Derek, the owner of the gun who was being questioned by the police. He plays a character who is simultaneously terrified, despondent, angry and devious and switches back and forth between these states flawlessly. David Paymer gives the best performance I've seen by him to date as the underhanded lawyer trying to shift blame away from himself. Even Tony Goldwyn, who often comes off a little stiff, gave an excellent performance. The acting by the young cast was also marvelous. It was a commendable job by casting and director David MacKay to find four actors who resembled the older actors so much and still had the talent to play their parts so convincingly. Of these, Marc Worden who played young Ivan was a particualar standout.MacKay's best accomplishment was his ability to convincingly draw the right emotional mix out of the cast. The hand held flight scenes in the woods were well done and enhanced the dramatic effect. There was one scene with George (David Paymer) brandishing a hand gun that was done with a wide angle lens that was a bit amateurish (it made it look like he was holding a howitzer), but otherwise the camera work was well done with visual perspectives that enhanced the impact of the scenes. MacKay's weaving of the two stories (past and present) in post production was masterful and kept the film moving at breakneck speed. Just when you needed an explanation to put some present event in context, there was the next flashback, as if the director anticipated the questions the viewer was asking himself.Overall, this was a taut, well crafted film. It was great to see a low budget independent film with so much entertainment value. I gave it a 9/10. Hunt it down and find it at your local video store. You won't regret it.
