It's no Unforgiven, I tell you what

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2008)

It's a good movie, but it's no masterpiece. Clint Eastwood's movies are all so distinctly grim and devoid of humor. I wonder what his deal is? This is where the movie seems unrealistic to me, when it ceases to ever break the constant tension.
I also didn't buy some of the character portraits, like Kevin Bacon's rocky marriage or Tim Robbins' tumultuous past. Some of these things were a little TOO convenient for the sake of the plot advancement. In other words, I could break apart the mechanics of the plot and see where it was pieced together.
The performances are all very good. I guess it's nice to see Kevin Bacon in a major role again and Tim Robbins and Sean Penn are surprisingly capable here. It's funny because the way people are socially interwoven across generations in this movie reminded me of that crappy movie Sleepers (also with Kevin Bacon).
This is a solid film, but it doesn't blow your mind or anything. A few jokes to replace the smart-alecky cop dialog every now and then wouldn't hurt. Incidentally, while it is interesting in theory, I was unimpressed by Clint Eastwood's efforts at musical scoring. The soundtrack lacked any real punch.
A good effort, but Clint's recent films have not affected me very much because they're so serious and grim. They seem almost unrealistic.
7.5