GREAT Directing, NOT for teens!!!

Rating: 9/10 (8 November 2008)

this is a great movie. it has the zest of a 80's film. It has a lot of psychological appeal but most teenagers will not appreciate the directing and planning that goes into a film like this- (They'll be thinking OH HOW LONG IS THIS MOVIE, WHERE's THE ACTION etc). Of course, assuming they sneak in somehow (it's rated R for disturbing language and some horrific scenes, no sexuality involved)
The first part of the movie is dull, prosaic and monotonous, it takes about 45 minutes to get into the CORE of the movie's substructure. This substructure plot is made up of 2 coinciding events: one is that the LAPD attempts to avoid embaressment by the media, and the other is a serial killer (in the Wineville murders). These two stories interplay into the life of Miss Collins, whose emotional burden is unparalleled. The LAPD pretty much screws her over, and that's the point of the movie. It's main focus is on the actions of the LAPD at the time and to narrate the life of Northcott , the serial killer.
If you like psychological/mature adult drama, you will appreciate Eastwood's directing. He is a true genius of the camera and this film represents that (but it is Oscar bait: at 2 hours , it seems eastwood was doing this for an award). The trials at the end elicit sympathy and sentiment for the characters involved, and the viewer leaves with a sense of justice and hope.
I have never seen a movie like this. It is long, it is great, and it exposes and inspires. the directors should not have rated R but due to a certain scene at the end, it had to be. great actors. bad thing is it is so hard looking at Miss Collin's face because her countenance is a cadaverous ghastly white, which is in opposite contrast to her lips, which are bright red. She looks so sick that she's hard to look at anymore.