Not as good as I expected

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2007)

After all the hype, I expected more. It is way too long for a simple story. It is too derivative with steals from Godfather, Good Fellas and number of other gangster films. The revelation to me was a great performance by Crowe, probably his best. He played it perfectly--an underplayed restrained but in the end a magnificent job of acting. I never realized how really good he is as an actor, He plumbed the depth of this good cop and yet made him all too human, showing his angst as well as his moral certitude. For once he did not rely on his persona and charm. Acting students should see him if they want to see a big star show how really good a star can be!! I admire him for stopping to give such a great acting job in the middle of a star-laden career. Denzel also gave a wonderful performance. Even though he relied on his superb electric personality. Any film he is in is usually worth watching. He is at the top of his craft, here going from suave polished kingpin to savage killer.But the rest of the cast except for Brolin is wasted. He gives another amazing acting job and shows he is a top professional. The film was poorly edited and Zalians script was Disjointed and character development other than the leads was non-existing. It is surely worth seeing for the two stars work but because of the poor writing and editing it doesn't rise to the level of the great crime films.