Out of the twelve current reviews, the ten 10/10's are all fake, and the two 1 & 2/10 are wannabe critics that have no clue how to rate a film.
I found this film flawed, yet interesting and entertaining, and better than I expected.
The acting by all cast was on point, especially J.L. Curtis. The sound/score was decent. The directing and cinematography were well done by writer/director Joe Chappelle. But his writing is were the flaws showed. The too-long 102 min length, and extremely slow pacing made this film seem over 2 hours long. Many scenes were dragged out and unnecessary imo. Joe Chappelle's resume is mainly TV's shows, so going into a full length feature film clearly was a challenge for him. Had this films pace been sped up, and the screenplay edited/cut down to 60 (TV show length) - 80 min, it would have held the audiences attention better with constant uninterrupted suspense..
The premise of this political drama/(hardly a) thriller was actually very interesting, and the flashback scenes were done well, but most of the 'entertainment value' was the last 15-20 mins. The beginning was the slowest, focusing too much on unnecessary long or irrelevant scenes.
Still, an enjoyable film on dirty underground politics. Would I recommend it? Only if you are into political films and/or have nothing better to watch. It's an honest 7/10 from me.
