The main issue that I have with this movie is that it tries to be incredibly smart; when in fact, it skates over a lot of the lose ends that left me feeling Paul would never get away with this crime in the real world. Maybe, 20 or 30 years ago before forensic evidence practices and knowledge of the human psyche were not so abundant among the general population this movie would have looked smart. Hence, this movie tries to portray the idea of a "perfect crime," sadly people who watch any type of crime TV or even crime dramas like CSI, will be shaking their heads.
The movie does offer up some plot twists which add an element of intelligence in one sense, yet the movie completely loses that edge with some dumb moves. I cannot state them all here as they would give away too much of the movie and I don't want to do that, but just silly little things negate the idea of this being a masterful crime.
However, I will point out a few of these said flaws so people know what I am talking about when they see it. To start with, the accomplices Paul chooses are not shall we say the most stable of people, which will be evident from the beginning. Now the movie works itself around in a way where this becomes a positive for Paul. While I can see the point in Paul picking the individuals he did it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that neither one of his accomplices are stable enough, let alone smart enough to play the roles Paul wants them to play by the end of the movie.
In the way of forensic evidence there are even more flaws. Paul's prints are all over the location used, at one point in the movie he even vomits in the toilet... can anyone say DNA? Not to mention, his fingerprints are all over some key pieces of evidence *coughCELLPHONEcoughSHOTGUNcough.*
I really wanted to like this movie and there are some smart parts and some good twists but the stupidity of the rest of it is just too much for me. I guess the people who wrote this were hoping the audience would be dumb, or so dazzled by the twists that they wouldn't notice...
O_O
As far as the acting goes everyone did a pretty good job. While I am a fan of Victor Garber and his portrayal of Jack from the hit TV serious Alias, this performance here as a father is just too over the top and theatrical for my tastes. Sorry Victor. The rest of the cast holds up well and Kevin Zegers is chilling as Paul, yet his character doesn't quite add up. Around mid movie he gets emotional over something one of his accomplices does, yet he turns around at the end of the movie and does the same exact thing without blinking an eye... mmmmm, is one plus one still two?
Overall this is an okay movie to watch if you're bored or like one of the actors in here, but this is not a brilliant movie by any stretch of the means, sadly it tries to be and falls way short.
The movie does offer up some plot twists which add an element of intelligence in one sense, yet the movie completely loses that edge with some dumb moves. I cannot state them all here as they would give away too much of the movie and I don't want to do that, but just silly little things negate the idea of this being a masterful crime.
However, I will point out a few of these said flaws so people know what I am talking about when they see it. To start with, the accomplices Paul chooses are not shall we say the most stable of people, which will be evident from the beginning. Now the movie works itself around in a way where this becomes a positive for Paul. While I can see the point in Paul picking the individuals he did it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that neither one of his accomplices are stable enough, let alone smart enough to play the roles Paul wants them to play by the end of the movie.
In the way of forensic evidence there are even more flaws. Paul's prints are all over the location used, at one point in the movie he even vomits in the toilet... can anyone say DNA? Not to mention, his fingerprints are all over some key pieces of evidence *coughCELLPHONEcoughSHOTGUNcough.*
I really wanted to like this movie and there are some smart parts and some good twists but the stupidity of the rest of it is just too much for me. I guess the people who wrote this were hoping the audience would be dumb, or so dazzled by the twists that they wouldn't notice...
O_O
As far as the acting goes everyone did a pretty good job. While I am a fan of Victor Garber and his portrayal of Jack from the hit TV serious Alias, this performance here as a father is just too over the top and theatrical for my tastes. Sorry Victor. The rest of the cast holds up well and Kevin Zegers is chilling as Paul, yet his character doesn't quite add up. Around mid movie he gets emotional over something one of his accomplices does, yet he turns around at the end of the movie and does the same exact thing without blinking an eye... mmmmm, is one plus one still two?
Overall this is an okay movie to watch if you're bored or like one of the actors in here, but this is not a brilliant movie by any stretch of the means, sadly it tries to be and falls way short.