Amongst the best of American cinema

Rating: 9/10 (18 April 2010)

J. Michael Straczynski and Clint Eastwood deserve many honors for this because chief among the very good acting ensemble and the technical realization etc, the writer and director stand high.
Like "Chinatown", this movie's story starts simply and then opens out into directions that were not foreseen; it takes in the worst of people, and takes on themes that are not easy in mainstream movies any longer. Straczynski's script is well poised, with clarity and well defined differences in character. The narrative drive is balanced and always engaging. Indeed it may be a school for scriptwriters like Towne's Chinatown continues to be.
And then there's Eastwood's direction, precise, integral to the story and timed so well that like all of his later films it has a distinctive sense of time. Just count the beats, it is unlike any other director. It makes the reaction shots work, it gives space to the pauses, and because the actors are thinking under the direction, these are not dead spare, unnecessary moments. It is distinctively American in tone and phrasing.
If there is one small snipe it's Eastwood's musical score: they are sounding too similar with their limpid, even folksy simple, melodies; and while they work in parts, they are not the strongest artistic element.
And central to the project is the story which is one of the best and saddest and proves why strong stories still make engaging movies.