the audience applauded

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I gave 3 stars mostly because of genre, it states that it is COMEDY, and I was prepared to watch some comedy, but it was pure life DRAMA. Movie is OK, i watched better, but its not bad. I was pretty disappointed because I expected to watch some fun-time comedy, and not drama.About actors; they ware good. Clive Owen, is often underrated as an actor, where hi does his usual solid performance as a recovering alcoholic-father. But it is the supporting actors who bring this drama spotlight. Jaeden Lieberher, who plays the kid role, is good, and you can enjoy his performance as young drama actor.

Having read all of the above reviews, I won't waste space by summarizing the story line again. Four points: one, the title is murky; the Anthony's (the son) confirmation is an event that happens after the movie ends; granted, the young son's weekend with his father is a rite of passage, but I don't think the title ties it in; two, I like the fact that the movie has one singular objective, which is to find the Walt's toolbox; in a way, the father's future hangs on it; three, I thought the casting and performances were fine, sincere, workmanlike; the best performance of Clive Owen I've seen is "Words and Pictures"; (check it out); four, the ending was unsatisfying and unrealistic, as another reviewer pointed out; SPOILER ALERT: Walt, Anthony, and Allen return to the pawn shop; Allen steals the toolbox, runs out; all three jump in the car and drive away;cut to the end of the movie, where father and son have a bonding moment and "life will be good." How can it be "good" when, assuming the pawnshop owner is not an idiot, that he wrote down the license plate and contacted the police; Walt used his ex-wife's car which will be traced back to him. The pawnshop owner can identify Walt from their first ruinous encounter. Not being a student of law and not wanting to take the time to elaborate on the crimes committed, I will only say the consequences for Walt, Anthony, and Bonnie (Walt's ex) will damage their relationships. How could writer/director Bob Nelson ignore this outcome? Up to this point, the picture was grounded in the grittiness of the harsh world; Nelson, not dealing with this plot point, spoiled the picture for me.

Strike 1 - Walt goes through extreme alcohol withdrawals, a la Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas. In the context of this movie this is completely unbelievable. The film simply does not establish the amount of drinking that must be done to get to that point of that kind of withdrawal. Walt has one drink, one drink in the bar scene, and that all we see of him actually drinking, and later that night he is going through withdrawals.Strike 2 - When Walt & Anthony turn the car on (the one without brakes), Walt calls the music "metal," when it isn't even close to metal. A very sad way for the writers to be exposed as old and out of touch.Strike 3 - When Walt and Anthony accompany Patton Oswalt's character to the first guy on the list of potential tool thieves, they confront a man in his driveway. The man says he is in a good mood because he just got back from camping. The dude is black. When was the last time you saw black people camping? Let alone a black family? I think Chris Rock once said black people know better than to hang out in the middle of the forest surrounded by rednecks.And furthermore, when some tools get stolen out of the back of a pick-up in small town America, the film paint this picture where one of the local thieves must of done it; local thieves who all know each other and talk about their latest thievery... In reality its just some random meth head who sees an opportunity to make a quick buck and acts on it. Any amateur thief knows not to brag about it. This film is just unbelievable and implausible on so many levels. I could go on and on. Bad film. Waste of time. The only reason it gets 2 stars as opposed to one- is somehow they convinced a few notable actors to do this film- and the acting is the only standout in this film.

Walt, (Clive Owen) a recovering alcoholic, has his 8-year old son, Anthony (Jaeden Lieberher) for the weekend while his mother, Bonnie, (Maria Bello) and stepfather go away to a religious retreat. When Walt's specialized finishing tools are stolen he and Anthony get to know each other better trying to get back those tools that Walt desperately needs for his next job on Monday.This opens with Anthony in the Confessional Box and he cannot come up with any sins for the past 8-weeks. The Priest - almost at wits end - tries his best to help jog Anthony's memory but nothing surfaces. Anthony is undecided whether or not he should do his Confirmation. We see some unfortunate things happen to Walt that Anthony is surprised at but comes to understand that Walt is really a good person who is trying to do the right thing. We see Walt almost give in to alcohol, but Anthony becomes the adult and thwarts the attempt. Walt suspects Anthony but never lets him know it. Walt is always the good father, but acts more like a good friend and because of this Anthony gains new respect for him. Walt's friend Otto (Robert Forster) explains to Anthony what withdrawal symptoms are when Walt scares Anthony who thought his father was very drunk. It is possible that an adult Alien from outer space came to Earth and inhabited Jaeden as Anthony as we see him act more like an adult than an 8-year old. It's either that or Jaeden Lieberher is more than really good, or it was the Director doing all this. Whatever this is, it works big time. The chemistry between Walt and Anthony is so good you don't care how long it will take to find those tools. The banter between them including fatherly advice about Confirmation and Anthony's acceptance of it is pure gold. The dialogues are sincere and honest. And we see humor injected at times. You never want this to end.Clive Owen is one of the best actors around, and should be considered to be the next Bond, James Bond. My next choice would be Jim Caviezel. Will Smith would be my third choice, but I digress…………………This almost closes with Anthony in the Confessional box again listing sin after sin to the same priest who is now besides himself listening to the many sins Anthony spouts. And this is just one day after his last Confession. I would list them but then I would give away many of the things that happened to both of them as they went about finding those tools. So you see, Anthony (or that Alien) wasn't all that innocent in this trek. This does close with Bonnie watching Walt and Anthony saying good-bye until the next week-end and she knows Anthony's Confirmation will happen and Walt will be there. This is a great family movie and you may wish there were more movies like this. (we can only hope) (10/10)Violence: Not really just a little scuffle at a Pawn shop. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Small stuff and not much of it.