Drew me in, spat me out, GREAT movie!

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2008)

I think that people are so mean and selfish nowadays that the concept of a "good" conspiracy just doesn't occur to us. That's why this movie is such a surprise and is so effective.
Kudos to the Affleck brothers. Both of them are extremely talented. Harris was exquisite as some kind of godlike knight in the guise of the epitome of a hard bitten cop. I usually hate cops as a matter of principle, but Harris really had me going there. And WHO was that guy playing the ex-alcoholic uncle? He was so authentic he just blew me away. He had a pivotal role in this movie and whoever hired him should be commended for choosing him for the part.
BUT : There were parts of the movie where what the actors said was hard to hear, and this is definitely the only reason for me giving it a nine instead of a ten. Affleck should get his pipes operated on, because he shows much promise as an actor, but he sounds like a cat with his throat cut being introduced to the dark side of vise grips. And through all this noise, I never got to hear WHO was that little girl in the bathtub. Where did she come from? If that isn't explained away satisfactorily, the whole movie's just another cheap sham and crumbles away.
Excusing this anomaly, putting it down to the defective sound quality and going on with it, I really was drawn in. I watched it at home and the ending had me swearing, gnashing my teeth and furiously pounding the table. That's exactly what a good movie should do.
Just before the credits, when Affleck's character does his "benevolent watcher" bit, if you had given me a free ticket to smoke some people, nobody would have come out of that house alive but the little girl.
"God protect us from other people's good intentions" should be the tagline for this movie.
Definitely one of my "might buy" DVDs. If I find an explanation for the girl in the bathtub...