Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Just perfect...

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Eugene McCanick (David Morse) is an unlikeable Philadelphia cop who has a bad relationship with his son and everyone else on the planet. He has no trouble lying to his partner. When Simon Weeks (Cory Monteith) gets paroled, McCanick is told to stay away from him which lasts for two scenes.The film consists of McCanick attempting to find Weeks through young male prostitutes, of which Weeks was one. The movie is told with flashbacks to amplify the lies of our main character. I watched the film not knowing where it was going through boring action and drama scenes, hoping the film would make sense and redeem itself. Unfortunately, once I had figured out what I was watching, I couldn't wait for it to end. Sorry. No spoilers.Not my cup of poison.Parental Guide: F-bombs. No sex or nudity.

This was yet another interesting indie film I was able to learn about through Netflix. It is a darkly moody story which requires paying close attention. As I watched this movie, I felt myself becoming more and more saddened and angry as the realization hit me that Cory Monteith possessed far more talent than he was ever called upon to demonstrate in Glee and this would be the last of his roles for eternity. Here was a young man already capable of holding his own with a seasoned actor like David Morse and obviously capable of becoming even better and better at his craft as time progressed. What a sad, sad waste of a young life.

The hallmark of a really good performance is that you don't even realize who the actor is. The ability to transform and completely change who you are to create a character is a rare talent... Cory pulls that off in this movie. Let's be honest, no one is seeing this movie because they're a fan of police drama's. There are thousands of those out there and yes, those are better told than this one. You're interested in this movie as a curious last look at Cory's career to see what his final piece of work was. Well let me tell you right now, this is something special. He devoted himself to this character. He is so far into it that even when his face takes up 90% of the screen you'll be second guessing if it's Cory or not. He dived into this character completely and if this is to go in the history books as his final film, it's a perfect film to hold that title. It proves that he had fantastic potential to pull out amazing performances, sadly we won't see any more after this. It's a must see for any fan of Cory, you owe it to yourself to see him at his prime.

In regards to Corey Montieth: I saw that the other review focused almost entirely on Montieth's performance. In truth, he plays a supporting role without much screen time (although it is an important role). He does an adequate job, but I was not blown away by his performance. I will say that he was completely unrecognizable to me, which is a positive thing.In regards to David Morse: A underrated actor who I have always appreciated. He carries the burden of the film on his shoulders and makes it look easy. Morse has a way of being menacing and is absolutely believable as a cop approaching retirement age who can still scare people shitless.The movie as a whole: A mixed bag. Rather than being the gritty character study that it wants to be, it feels like a ripoff of some other superior gritty character study. The dialogue is just barely off the mark, but enough so that it feels slightly odd. Some plot points are naggingly unrealistic (For example, the idea that Morse's partner could be unaware of a robbery/rape that occurred the previous night. Believe me every cop in the city would be aware). The camera-work and direction are competent but bland. Morse raises my score from a 4 to a 6.