Eh.

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2009)

Well, first of all, the sets are pretty great for this movie. Costumes and props and suchlike are all done well. John Malkovich is always fun to watch, too, and the dark twist that things took up at the ranch was unexpected and added some interest. For the most part, though, this felt like an overblown TV movie: a mother searches for her son, and in so doing stands up to evil men. Except for two - possibly three if you count the protagonist's boss - good male characters, the rest seem to be one-dimensional forces of oppression. Likewise, the other main female characters are gutsy (if hastily-drawn) women who are being oppressed. I know that the 1920s were a time in which women were oppressed - there's more than enough misogyny to go around even today - and I have no problem with films that deal with these things, but this portrayal just seemed melodramatic and a bit shallow.
The characterisation was a bit thin overall: we learn that the heroine is a single mother, that she works at a switchboard and that her boss has a crush on her, but not much more - and she's the most detailed character in the film. I also found the movie's pacing to be uneven. There were at least two points before the end of the movie at which the credits could have started rolling, and we would still have seen a satisfactory (if not great) film. At one of these points they even seemed to hint that it *was* the end, by mirroring some of the opening scenes. As it is, though, the point at which the film ends doesn't add much to the preceding scenes and felt rather limp.
Apparently lots of people love this film, but best of 2008? Even The Dark Knight had more detailed characterisation, and that's about a billionaire in a bat costume for goodness' sake. This is a true story, and potentially engaging if handled well, but the only character I really had sympathy for was the Canadian kid. Re-watch LA Confidential, or Girl, Interrupted, or even The Forgotten. They've covered most of this ground before, and better.