Absolutely Riveting

Rating: 10/10 (18 March 2001)

A thrillingly virtuoso display of the craft of screenwriting. If the picture as a whole falls just short of greatness, largely because the ending does not reach a deeply visceral level of satisfaction, I still believe I have never seen a more *engrossing* movie--ever. I was riveted for two solid hours, using last brain cell and loving every minute of it. Guy Pearce and the rest of the cast are superb, the editing is exquisite, the direction is crackerjack, but the writing, the writing! Mind-blowing.