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I quite enjoyed this, although it does have issues. [SPOILER]
posté par microscopeSTAFFMOD le 12 mars 2017 à 21h10
Only saw this for the first time today. I love detective movies and revenge movies etc. I liked the story, 3 kids lives affected so much from the abduction and their shitty environment, and probably more people they met affected by it too. Each go different ways. And I like the cop finding the bullet used in a previous robbery and that being the main piece of forensic evidence. And I like the way the story pans out too, the sad frustrating wrongful murder of Dave, and the real killer getting found etc.
But there is stuff that bugs me.
1) I don't believe the kids would let that guy take one of them. The guy didn't seem like a cop at all, and it was 3 kids vs that one guy and they weren't that young, and they all had hockey sticks. Maybe stranger danger wasn't drilled into them enough in that generation but I am still sceptical. I know what I was like as a kid and I wouldn't have let that guy take one of my friends.
2) I don't like how Dave's character was written. He seems dim and broken, yet becomes super sharp during the police interview. Then he falls apart after Katie's murder even though he has nothing to do with it, and acts so suspicious around his own wife. I think it was unrealistic how he behaved, I think he could have easily convinced his own wife that he had nothing to do with the girl's murder, and when it all started going wrong and he was a suspect, he should have told Katie's dad the truth. The guy is a crook, it's not like he would turn him in. I also think the wife was a ridiculous character too, why would she even marry him if she couldn't handle a weird guy with emotional problems, he must have been like that since the start. And I don't buy her ratting him out, and even if she did, I think she would have told the cops first. She comes across as such an emotional wreck and there is no reasoning for it in the film, and it was frustrating for me to see her being such a mess, and unrealistic how she cared for him one minute and then the next minute she thinks he is a murderer.
3) I didn't buy the part where the bad guys kill Dave. It was just too rushed, all they had to go on was that he was arrested and questioned and had an injured hand. I don't think even a scumbag like that would commit a murder based on that. I also don't think even Dave would have been so incapable at explaining he had nothing to do with it. He could have explained in detail about the guy he killed, how he found about him, where he did it, etc.. That whole scene just seemed so contrived and fake to me.
4) The ending felt rushed. The real murderer hardly gets talked about at all, it all gets revealed in one short scene and then you never see anything of it again. Also the impact of Dave's death isn't really felt because it all happens so fast and then it is over. I think the middle of the film dragged a bit, and then the ending was sudden. That could have been a lot more balanced.
Overall though I liked it. I would prefer to watch a detective movie though, this one tried to be more and I think was worse because of it. In terms of revenge and misguided justice etc. I think Prisoners was a bit better, even though it is probably pretty uncreative, especially after coming after this film.
Réponse de GForce59
le 29 octobre 2017 à 23h54
I just watched this and wish I could get those two hours back. All the reasons you posted contribute to why for me. Killing Dave was just stupid, and Jimmy's never going to get caught for it. My heart ached for Michael at the end...seeing him so void and blank in the parade with his baseball teammates made me just sad at the end.
Réponse de Strange Bedfellows
le 16 janvier 2019 à 18h55
I just watched this too and I agree with all the OP's points. Also, why did they make such a big palaver about the ring on the original paedophiles finger? It never had any meaning for the rest of the movie. I also thought the wife's monologue at the end where she more or less said if you kill an innocent man it's ok as long as you love your wife and children - don't worry about his wife and children because she's not a good wife - anyway you can be king of this town? We could have done without that scene entirely. I wasn't sure why Katie was beaten so severely either - I didn't buy that whole scenario of how she was killed.
Réponse de HikariWS
le 29 décembre 2022 à 03h13
Don't superstimate kids. Writer said that that scene was based on himself and his mother angry on him for doing that.
The kids were doing something wrong and they were looking for a kid to kidnap. He acted as cop bragging about city property. They didn't wanna go but he was mad to be convincing.
I agree that Dave was badly written, he's like a caricature, and too much suspitious. It makes no sense he'd tell her he killed somebody but not that he disposed the body, and then not care for her looking news about the body and still say nothing while a girl was killed on the same night.
His wife's very convincing thou. She clearly has some smaller emotional problem, probably she'd marry him because she'd be unable to find a better man, or because she believed he'd never be able to betray her, or maybe she just liked weak guys that'd rely on her.
The ending bothered me a lot, the parade was out of place. I interpret that the idea of the plot was to show sinful ppl regretting their mistakes and that it's all sad. I'd expect Bacon's character to not wanna arrest his friend, but I'd expect Laurence's to not accept that and arrest him for both murders. But no, his character just vanishes once the crimes are unfolded.
Killing Dave was expected, he was always trying to find the murder to kill him. Once Dave's wife herself says she believes he's the murder, of course he'd be killed.
The ring is somehow related to ICAR's priests, it implies that the guy was one. Of course, a bad scene, because obviously a priest wouldn't use the ring that could be used to identify him.
I guess the wife's monologue was meant to be repulsing, to show how disgusting she is to keep married to a murderer and the bad argument she'd have for that.
The kids killed Katie because she was about to flee the city with his brother and he didn't want him to, because he'd stay alone with his bad mother. It's not clear to me if they indeed just wanted to scare her as Beacon said or if they did wanna kill her. But the shot didn't do it and she hit him and ran, so they chased her. It's not clear why they beat her instead of just shot again, I don't see the kids having the willpower and strenght to.
Réponse de GForce59
le 29 décembre 2022 à 05h16
Five years ago, I posted about this movie up above, and as I type this, I cannot remember a darn thing about it except vaguely the parade at the end, and only that because it was mentioned in another reply. Not the characters, not the plot...nothing. That is the epitome of a forgettable movie.
Réponse de Strange Bedfellows
le 29 décembre 2022 à 05h34
GForce59
Me Too.
Réponse de HikariWS
le 29 décembre 2022 à 11h24
I'm sure it'll be the same for me :D