For Eastwood-groupies only

Rating: Null/10 (28 March 2010)

Can Clint Eastwood ever make a bad film? Contrary to the innumerable lemmings gushing over his Hollywood recognition and reputation, the answer is "yes." This film had the production quality, sophistication, and entertainment value of a tedious made-for-TV flick trying desperately to be taken seriously. It didn't help that none of the characters were well conceived by the script (which is strange, considering this film was inspired by a "real" event and "real" people), and the actors were clearly bored with their roles.
Angelina Jolie could not help but be 'emotionally distraught' in every scene, not only because it was called for by the script and the film, but because she seemed genuinely distraught that more discriminating viewers might not embrace this film on Eastwood's reputation alone. Malkovich doesn't even look like he's awake in most of his scenes, and Feore plays the same bureaucrat bit-role he's played in countless major Hollywood productions that continue to gloss over him. The only component worth mentioning is the score, which Eastwood purportedly composed himself. I guess that's something....