Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

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

This film was some kind of a roller coaster intellectually, with a very different dramaturgy build of the story line. The excitement isn't in this film as you expect. I think you need to be aware of this following if you are to enjoy this: 1) Watch everything with a sharp eye, down to the details of writing and dialog. 2) Be prepared to see a film where nothing is like it seems to be. 3) The slow up build is for you to understand the rest, so be patient! 4) Expect this storytelling to be very different from the common Hollywood dramatic model. 5) This is not a thriller, rather a mind bending movie. 6) Watch this you are a detective yourself.Most people watching this will have problems with it, if you're not prepared. This is a film which will have great fans, and lots of haters. It's a good film, but I must criticize it for being difficult to comprehend. It's in no way perfectly made to give the effect the makers wanted. Most of the audience are not able to follow a film like this if they are not identifying with some if the actors, or if they find the story exciting. This is where this film falls. We'll acted, doesn't mean you are absorbed with the story. Still quite good, if you have the patience. This film grows the last half hour. If you don't get it, it doesn't mean you're stupid. It just tells this wasn't your kind of mystery or that you weren't laying enough attention to the details.The great slow heavy song at the club one hour into the film is Aaron Hendra "Bad machine".

I have always liked Stephen Dorff, but most of his roles have been strong supporting ones. It is pleasant to notify that last years have seen him becoming a leading actor where he virtually fills out a movie (apart from Officer Down, in Brake last year - recommended as well). He can be both a convincing tough cop and a caring family man, a reliable person and a controversial one. As for Officer Down, he (as Detective David Callahan) as well as James Woods (as Captain Verona) provide the biggest value to the movie (the other actors seem to derive from Seagal-Lundgren type of movies). Woods is also an actor who makes movies more interesting to follow.The plot is slightly cloddish, flashbacks and odd alterations are confusing and some scenes are questionable, especially Logue-related ones. The ending could have been more elaborated, too. Nevertheless, the movie is recommended for killing time and a bit longer than 1,5 hours passes without yawns and/or blah feelings.

I've no idea how the other reviewers rated this 7, 8 and 9 out of 10. They're either riding Stephen doff or related to him. Weak cast, bland story, boring execution and Dorff is just massively cringe. Dominic Purcell and Anna Lynn what's her face.. Come on! They couldn't act their way out of a paper bag and some child from American idol. I wasn't expecting much.. But I got less that I anticipated. It's like cast and crew up on this movie 15 mins in.Avoid like the plague. There are so many other they're so many other things you could be doing Need I say more..

For the first half of the film I was hopeful a point would be revealed to all the confusing scenes that never seemed to add anything to a weak story. For example, in one scene Det. Callahan (Steven Dorff) is told by his daughter that she wants to ask him about something that is troubling her. However, instead of actually listening to what she has to say he cuts her off with insistent question after insistent question until she runs off in frustration! OK, so the scene sort of had a point in that it showed the Callahan saw only what he wanted to see, or that his relationship with his daughter was being interfered with by his work, but in the end we never find out what the daughter was trying to ask. I mean it seemed like it was something important being that this daughter who barely said a thing to her father unless it was dismissive of his concern for her, was all of a sudden wanting to ask him something really important and not go to her mother! But we are just left hanging. That's just one small example of how little sense the film made, but the real nonsensical scene was at the end. The captain offers Callahan a pre-written statement that will absolve him of all blame and allow him to carry on with his life in possession of a new moral code forged in the mistakes of the past. Instead of signing the statement though Callahan owns up to the truth of the situation and goes to prison! That just makes no sense! What was achieved by telling the truth?! It wasn't like signing the statement meant he couldn't change his ways. And who in their right mind would knowingly allow themselves to be sentenced to prison? Especially a cop? He may as well have just shot himself in the head and been done with it? Basically none of it made sense and left me feeling rather unsatisfied - kinda like I had just wasted 100 minutes of my life because that's exactly what I had done!