Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It is a performances centric movie

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

A reclusive man (Brian Cox) sets out for justice and redemption when three troublesome teens (Noel Fisher, Kyle Gallner, Shiloh Fernandez) kill his dog for no good reason.First of all, why was Lucky McKee replaced? And Angela Bettis replaced, too? This seems terribly unfortunate and probably cost the film some fans and attention it might have otherwise had. (With all due respect to the new director, who did a phenomenal job.) At least us horror buffs have Ashley Laurence and Robert Englund to work with. (Not to mention veteran actors Tom Sizemore and Richard Riehle.) The whole story is great and spins out of control. It has the sensibility of "Mystic River" and the revenge of "Falling Down"... the best of both worlds.

Emotionally effective Jack Ketchum adaptation is overall thoughtful and compelling filmmaking. While the story eventually turns somewhat conventional, it's still a nice character study of a damaged man who determines to see justice done on behalf of his beloved dog. It may have worked even better if the antagonists weren't pretty one dimensional. But a wonderful, strong performance by lead actor Brian Cox holds it all together, along with the assistance of a fine supporting cast.Cox plays Avery Ludlow, a solitary widower who lives basically for three things: his house, his store, and his cherished mongrel dog Red. One morning while fishing he's accosted by three punks. Young jerk Danny (Noel Fisher) is dissatisfied with how little they'll make from robbing Avery, and cold bloodedly, casually shoots the dog in the head. A devastated Avery spends his time after that seeing what he can do legally about the situation. There isn't much, of course, but all he really wants is for Danny to cop to what he did and apologize. But no apologies will be forthcoming, not from Danny and not from his well-off father Mr. McCormack (Tom Sizemore). Avery gets in contact with a reporter, Carrie (Kim Dickens) looking for a human interest story.Cox is the main reason to watch this. Convincing at every turn, he creates a character whom you like and root for. Familiar faces in the other roles include Ashley Laurence as McCormack's wife, Robert Englund and Amanda Plummer as Mr. and Mrs. Doust, and Richard Riehle as Sam. Ketchum makes a cameo appearance as a bartender.Capable direction by Lucky McKee and Trygve Allister Diesen (the latter replaced the former weeks into shooting, for undisclosed reasons) helps a lot, as well as lovely music by Soren Hyldgaard. Fundamentally it's a good story, well told and well performed by all, with a heart warming wrap-up.Eight out of 10.

The movie stars very charismatic Brian Cox as an aged ex-soldier (Avery Ludlow) living with his old dog. In the beginning of the movie he has a conflict with a group of teenagers and soon after things start to escalate. Mr. Ludlow's pain is very tangible as he tries to seek for justice and truth: a superb performance by Brian Cox. Also Noel Fisher and Tom Sizemore give great performances as cold and untouched father and son. Storytelling is very straight-forward in a good way. This is a kind of movies you can't stop watching until the end credits: you have to see what happens as it is not obvious. The movie bears striking resemblance to Gran Torino or Harry Brown in the general set-up of the story. Interestingly all of them were made in 2008 - 2009.

I can't think of any flaws with this film. I went into this not knowing what to expect, only reading the slight synopsis on the rental. This film, in its early reviews, fell under the "revenge" category, but that is not what this is about in any way. There is no revenge here. Avery Ludlow, played by Brian Cox, is a man who is kind, generous and well respected in his community, a small town. Several teenagers commit an act that hurts him and he wants only admission and an apology. But the guilty are children of a rich man who won't let his reputation be hurt and who has connections and uses them so that Avery cannot put to rest the act that occurred (I am not going to say what it is, not really a spoiler since it is in the synopsis everywhere but in case this is all you read, you won't know then).There simply is no revenge in Ludlow's heart, but things get worse as he just tries to deal with what happened here, after losing his family several years prior to this. I won't go anymore into the story, but I will say that this is a great film, about morals, honor, and those with money who try to get away with anything. Beautifully acted, I always felt this was a totally realistic situation, the characters were very real to me and situations like this could very easily occur, and most probably do. I highly recommend this movie. I think it is an important film in many respects, and rarely is a story told these days where the victim doesn't seek cold revenge but just admission. As you find out about Ludlow's life, you will certainly be in sympathy for him, which only adds to the awful things that happen here. Don't miss this one!