Terrance Howard's performance spectacular/script sinks in the creek

Rating: 7/10 (22 September 2007)

Terrence Howard's performance wrenched this script from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Other members of the cast tried hard and shone well--but the script was so leaden that it was difficult for them to do as well as they should have (DJ Qualls, Taryn Manning, Taraji Henson were among those who were wonderful but who were pulled down by the script).
For me, this movie was a collection of wonderful instruments (the actors) who were desperately striving to do better than the trivial tune they were given to play. With this cast and a script that was not the cliqued, run-of-the mill job that this was, this film easily would have been a 9/10 instead of a 6/7. What a loss!