Too much of everything

Simply A Masterpiece

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.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I must admit, I rented this only because I'm a fan of David Andrews (JAG, Terminator 3, Cherry 2000, CSI) who plays the father of the Braverton family. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it and ended up buying a copy.The premise is that an ordinary family's life is suddenly terrorized when their psychologically tormented neighbour (played by Charlie Sheen) finally "cracks". I found the movie quite good, because it WAS a basically ordinary family. I could see my own family in their day-to-day goings on. So many Hollywood movies are spoiled for me by characters who live ridiculously opulent and overly quaint suburban lives. These characters didn't have an enormous swimming pool or luxurious cars or a magnificent house on the ocean - they're NORMAL people....and therein lies the suspense (at least for me). I could see the whole scenario ACTUALLY playing out in a real family's life. The reactions of the characters and the police were realistic and believable. No running around in silly lingerie, no going "Rambo" - real reactions.Truthfully, the weak point for me was Sheen. He was obviously trying to "break the mold" and was admittedly quite successful - the character was scary in a "smouldering" way. A burning ember. I just couldn't stop thinking of him as....well...Charlie Sheen - and that really wasn't his fault.This is definitely worth a watch - the dynamic between Mare Winningham and my man David Andrews (who also worked together in "Wyatt Earp") was genuine and gave the whole scenario the needed authenticity.:) AT

A white middle-class family, married, two kids, and living in a beautiful house in an apparently perfect suburb you already know from several Steven Spielberg and Wes Craven movies. A sinister neighbor and violent fireman, played by real-time psyche Charlie Sheen, watching and threatening the perfect picture family. And of course it won't take long until hell breaks loose...Nothing new really, but well done. The family actors are doing a fine job, but the credits go to Charlie Sheen this time who plays the psycho neighbor not as an over-the-top weirdo killer, but in a rather silent and retarded way and increasing the thrills of the story by his outstanding performance.No stupid dialogue and exaggerated over-acting, but just a man sitting in his dark and lonely house and watching old family pictures and his neighborer before his violent feelings are erupting like a volcano. A good thriller, recommended especially for Sheen's disturbing performance.

This is one of Charlie "Charles" Sheen roles. Other "Charles" movies are "Five Aces", "Postmortem", and "Free Money". It was enjoyable. He played a good psycho. His fireman character is the male version of Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction". He didn't turn sentimental in the end, "Charles" is "in charge" of acting insane. Thankfully he's usually on screen, but when's he not, the movie suffers. Overall it's another good Sheen flick.Another classic Sheen flick is the action-packed "Terminal Velocity" and who can forget his unforgettable portrayal of Skydiving instructor Ditch Brodie in that film?For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

This film started promising. However, the result is not as good as it was expected. The plot is predictable and Sheen's performance pathetic. At the end finally the film steals ideas from Funny Games. Bad film on the block...