Dreadfully Boring

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

See this movie for one thing - Ben Foster. The movie is otherwise just this side of average, though an engaging story. Think of it as "Savages" light. *Really* light! And then we get to Ben Foster. He captures the psychotic out-of-control life of a meth addict way too close for comfort. It's as scary as it is just painful to watch. He really sells the out-of-control desperation. Zero suspension of disbelief necessary. Enjoy the movie, but don't blame me if you find yourself just waiting for the next scene with Foster's character to come up.

Described as a docudrama, it's really a feature film that follows the time line of events pretty closely but perforce must introduce fictionalized dialog. That's okay. Nobody was taking notes and the dialog is convincing enough. The armature of the story is that some guy owes some other guy thirty large but he won't pay up, so the creditors kidnap the debtor's younger brother, take good care of him for a few days, and then, despite his swearing not to tell anyone about his so-called kidnapping, they shoot him full of holes in the desert in the mistaken belief that the fifteen-year-old hostage would squeal anyway and all the gang would get life imprisonment. It reminded me of "Kids" except that this was far more violent.It serves as an introduction to the anomic life of teen agers in the prettiest parts of Southern California -- Pomona, Montclair, Palm Springs. Their families are middle class but the kids themselves transcend social class. They form a logical set of their own. None seems to have a job. One muses about "taking a course" but it's clear that they have little interest in anything except the goings on of their own clique. They might find a graphic novel too challenging. Some of them wouldn't be able to find their home town on a map. They lack curiosity.What interests them the most is dope and money. Sex is readily available, with the beautiful girls (all with the same hair style) as eager as the boys, sometimes more eager. One girl applies all sorts of ministrations to her boy friend but he can't get it up. (And the girl is the unimpeachably beautiful Olivia Wilde.) The truly amazing thing is that ANY of the boys can get it up. They suck on bongs, smoke weed constantly, and drink hard liquor straight out of the bottle. No wonder some of them have a problem.It struck me that the parties ranged from ecstatic displays to bloody rage, with very little in between, a kind of binary party. But it's a little hard to reconcile this with the effects of marijuana or opiates with violence. Nevertheless, the violence is there and Ben Foster as one of the over-tattooed skin heads gets the palm for particularly intense role enactment. The guy is a human wrecking ball, trashing houses, decking three or four adversaries, and wearing white after Labor Day. Only one of these aimless guys shows any common sense but he's swept up in the plot anyway. They're all on the same hedonic treadmill.I wish that at least one of them would open a book or be seen watching something other than bad Westerns and cartoons. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and so is a whole generation.

Initially, I wasn't impressed with this film. There was a bunch of young drug dealers, trying to be overly rad and slick, with Bruce Willis giving a very tired performance and with unlikable main characters. But, as the main story started to unfold and we truly got to know these characters, I was actually pulled into their world, their point of view, their personal ideas and personalities. It wasn't a pleasant world and not one I'd want to live in, but I got to understand it a little bit better. In addition, this movie understands that in order for us to sympathize with a character, we first have to understand that character. We have to see where he's coming from, what has happened to him before the actual conflict that has put him under duress. We may not agree with the character despite all that, but we will at least understand his perspective, his point of view. The world of young, idiotic and foolhardy drug dealers is explored in great deal in this film, with some excellent role performances from Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake and, most of all, from Anton Yelchin, who really made us feel for the character of Zack. All in all it's not a bad film. The beginning is kind of off-putting, but as the stakes start to get higher with time passing, so does the quality of the film rise. And by the time of the third act, I found myself immersed into this film.

First of all I have to say I love Justin Timberlake in films. He is such a better actor than singer. He is great in this. Loved him in Snake Moan and Social Network but he is great in this - almost the good guy, without giving too much away. Yeah the film starts off slow and by the time the deed that the whole film is based upon as stated in the summary happens, i almost lost interest and couldn't decide whether or not to continue with the film. But boy in that instance with that scene my interest was captivated and i was completely engrossed with the film. By the end of the film you will have warmed to two characters the most and when the unspeakable happens at the end it really pulls on your emotions and you feel absolutely gutted. I did. How well acted by these two characters one of which is the fore mentioned JT. It is one of them films that i really want to watch again. Well done to everyone involved in this, it certainly left me feeling like the film had touched me. I love that. I will say though that the language is dire. Don't get me wrong i am not in anyway prude - goodness i went to see The Inbetweeners movie - but i have never known how to get so many swear words into one sentence before!! :O)