Competent but ultimately unedifying

Rating: 5/10 (12 March 2016)

I give this movie a 5 star rating and my reasons are as follows.
The cinematography is stunning, much like Clint's Mystic River and Unforgiven. I found the portrayal of gang culture - although this is not the main focus of the film - quite convincing including the gang members' patent violations of Natural Law. I particularly enjoyed how peer pressure was shown in the film - as when Taoh's cousin encourages him to join his gang - and I found the scene where Sue and boyfriend are accosted by nefarious black youths particularly well done.
Unlike other reviewers, the high point for me in the acting department was Sue, Taoh's sister. I found her acting contribution the most memorable of the entire cast, including Clint's. Taoh himself, although I initially liked him as a thoughtful, quiet, bookish boy, abused by family and strangers alike, annoyed me as he learnt to "speak and act like a man" under Walter's influence.
I have to admit part of the reason my score has gone down a few notches is due to my distaste for macho culture, as evidenced in the barber and construction site scenes, where Clint teaches the ever irritating and gullible Taoh (he's a kid to be fair) how to be one of those 'hard working', rude, sexist, racist money slaves that never think critically for one second or open a book in a lifetime. Call me butthurt if you like, but being creative and sensitive myself, I find the whole man's paradigm (including having tools and being good at carpentry and practical crap like that) presented glibly in the film quite unpalatable.
But ultimately what prevents me from giving this film a higher score is its lack of sophistication, resorting to stereotyping, sentimentality and shock value to drive its points home as opposed to transcending thoughtlessness and expanding consciousness about our world, a thing which I concede is rarely achieved in film. Some examples of this are Oliver Stone's Wall Street, John Carpenter's They Live, Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.
So if you're looking for a thoughtful, meaningful, truthful romp this is not it, but the film is nevertheless watchable (despite poor acting from some of the cast as has been mentioned in other reviews) and I enjoyed it enough to watch till the end.