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Directed by Ben Affleck.
With Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman. Ed Harris and Amy Madigan are also in the movie.
Based on the Dennis Lehane novel about two Boston area detectives.
I'd give this movie an "okay" rating.
The cast was exceptional. I thought both the story as a whole and the specific script had problems. Casey Affleck's character wasn't developed at all at the beginning. Then the audience has to "buy" that he's this noble neighborhood detective who risks everything for one case. Why does he do this? It's never answered. That bothered me.
Some of the lines/monologues are trite.
I really liked the questions the movie raised. The mother in the story is a nightmare -- but she IS the child's mother. If you're a parent I think there is a special "tear your heart out" quality at the end. I picture my two kids in place of any of the children in this movie and I get a lump in my throat and I'm close to tears.
I also liked how "gritty" the movie was. It's how I picture a tough Boston neighborhood. The movie was authentic that way. I can't IMAGINE living like that, and yet, there it was on the screen. Many minor characters were plucked out of the actual neighborhood where they filmed. Women my age looked closer to my mother's age. It's a tough life.
I Netflixed the movie because I liked the cast, the novel, and I wondered if Ben could direct a good movie.
For a first time director I'd give Ben a C+. The movie shines in areas and leaves the audience flat in others.
With Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman. Ed Harris and Amy Madigan are also in the movie.
Based on the Dennis Lehane novel about two Boston area detectives.
I'd give this movie an "okay" rating.
The cast was exceptional. I thought both the story as a whole and the specific script had problems. Casey Affleck's character wasn't developed at all at the beginning. Then the audience has to "buy" that he's this noble neighborhood detective who risks everything for one case. Why does he do this? It's never answered. That bothered me.
Some of the lines/monologues are trite.
I really liked the questions the movie raised. The mother in the story is a nightmare -- but she IS the child's mother. If you're a parent I think there is a special "tear your heart out" quality at the end. I picture my two kids in place of any of the children in this movie and I get a lump in my throat and I'm close to tears.
I also liked how "gritty" the movie was. It's how I picture a tough Boston neighborhood. The movie was authentic that way. I can't IMAGINE living like that, and yet, there it was on the screen. Many minor characters were plucked out of the actual neighborhood where they filmed. Women my age looked closer to my mother's age. It's a tough life.
I Netflixed the movie because I liked the cast, the novel, and I wondered if Ben could direct a good movie.
For a first time director I'd give Ben a C+. The movie shines in areas and leaves the audience flat in others.
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