Excellent film, terrible advertising.

Rating: 7/10 (3 July 2007)

I truly had low expectations for this movie. When I saw the commercials for this, it looked like another action dud. It had good press and had garnered a couple of nods from the Academy, but I just could not get past the advertising. So, my friend loans me the DVD the other day, and to my surprise I really liked it. The performances are very strong by all three main characters. The action is not overwhelming, and well executed. I see two primary flaws in this film. First, it is a little melodramatic. The weight of the subject matter is enough. The constant fist clenching, screaming at the sky seemed forced. Second, I feel the movie should have ended ten minutes earlier. Far to often studios feel the need to punctuate movies with a tidy conclusion. Sometimes a film is well served by a little ambiguity. Despite it's flaws, this a very good film. Not just the sum of it's action sequences.