A possible great film but comes up short

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2003)

This movie what it takes to be a great film but comes up slightly short. The acting was for the most part great. Sean Penn does a great job with the exceptions of a few scenes where he overdoes it. Tim Robbins is back on the top of his game (reminds me of his performance in Jacob's Ladder). And Kevin Bacon well he is the same as he was in `Wild Things' ... Ok but not great. The supporting cast for the most part did an excellent job. Fishburne acted well but not great. And the kids didn't mess up the film with terrible acting either (always a plus).
What are the shortcomings of this film? Simply put: it could have been adapted from the book much better. The movie is about 2.5 hours. Yet, the movies would have to be at least 3.5 hours long to correctly cover all of the points it attempted to hit. They should have dropped certain elements that they tried to touch on and focused more on the necessary ones. On a last note the ending could have been better. Much better. It wasn't terrible, but definitely not good.
Recommended to all drama fans. And anyone who doesn't mind watching a 2.5 hour movie that is well done with good acting but not much action.