what could have been good, turned out a shambles

Rating: 1/10 (28 September 2008)

with such a promising cast and an interesting storyline, i had real hopes for this movie, but it turned out to be a complete disappointment, and, if i must say, a DISASTER! there was simply no pace or grip throughout the entire movie. i felt as if i was watching an ammateur movie made by an unexperienced actor. afflecks directing skills clearly need a lot of work in terms of communicating with the audience and choosing the right dialogue for his actors. he put his little brother in role of a bad ass detective but he could not carry it off successfully with such a gentle voice and small stature, it made his character almost funny and unbelievable. you'd also think, that this film MUST have some prosperity due to the fact that the brilliant actor morgan freeman has a role in it.i felt affleck shunted freeman to the side and didn't use him to his full advantage. the movie could of possibly been saved by placing freeman as the detective, show them how its really done! as for the story line, i found myself asking for more and began to get fed up with the simplicity of it all, there was no thinking involved in this film and it was much like any other kidnapping feature. a complete cliché! there was no originality in its presentation.
very disappointing and would not recommend!