Should have been a "Best Picture" nominee

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2005)

In a less competitive year, this film would have received its due as an Oscar contender. In addition to the top notch lead acting performances (which did receive nods), the movie tells a compelling story in a manner that perfectly balances horror with humanity. Mel Gibson could use lessons from this director in how much more effective suffering can be conveyed when it is done with more subtlety and restraint so the audience is never numbed by tragedy, but rather is kept constantly feeling with the characters so as to even laugh with them at the occasional light moment.
The script may not be conventionally catchy in terms of original dialogue, but it allows the film to move well while presenting many of the characters (even some of the villains) as three-dimensional human beings. When people do things -- even those that may seem unwise -- we understand why they made that choice, which avoids the "why would anyone do that" problems that so annoy me in other movies.
All in all, the film that should have had the "Million Dollar Baby" or "Ray" slot on Oscar night.