**SPOILER ALERT!** don't read if you haven't seen the movie...I DO not recommend it, bad film!

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 2004)

*****THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. GO NO FURTHER IF YOU Don't WANT TO KNOW!!******
I cannot figure out what all the hype was for regarding this movie. It was absurd that Sean Penn, or Tim Robbins received Oscars for their roles in this film! It defies explanation. Here are my beefs with this movie:
1. Sean Penn did not go to the "Less is More" school of acting. That whole scene when they found his kid and him screaming "Iz dat my dotta in theahhh?!" over and over was totally and completely over the top! I've seen more subtle acting in Showgirls! Terribly over acted, it was embarrassing! (and the boston accents?? Yeah. They were pretty bad)
2.It turns out that the daughter's boyfriend's little mute brother killed her. Huh? Wha? There simply was not enough background or enough time with this character in the movie. He's barely referred to at all, except at the very end and he's the one who killed her? I won't go into how he killed her, which was incredibly unbelievable as it was portrayed in the movie. I have not read the book, so I can't compare the book/movie, but it just made no sense. It was totally random that he was the killer!
3. The whole scene with Sean Penn and Laura linney at the tail end was sickening and also totally unbelievable, and completely out of left field. For her to give that speech and then have sex with him as though it turned her on also seemed totally unwarranted. We never get to see the type of person she really is, she's apparently very close with her cousin celeste, so for her to make this speech seemed out of character, as she was portrayed in the film.
4. Poorly written screenplay, lousy editing, badly directed (see critique of s. penn finding his daughter)
5. The last scene, when they're all at the parade, and you see celeste searching for her husband, and Sean Penn and laura linney's characters carrying on like nothing happened wasn't believable at all
6. The scene where Kevin Bacon and larry fishburn burst into the boyfriends apartment just as he's about to be shot?? come on!
I could go on and on, but there were more holes in this movie than swiss cheese, and to see it be so critically acclaimed? I need backup on this. A very poor film, I don't recommend it!