Big disappointment, honestly

Rating: Null/10 (18 June 2004)

*SPOILERS AHEAD !!!*
After waiting a long time before I was finally able to watch it on DVD two days ago, I was so deeply disappointed by that film I had read so many brilliant reviews about.
First of all, it's not the actors' fault. They delivered stunning performances, especially Tim Robbins. It's fascinating to see how a tall man like him can be so small and meek. Sean Penn did also well, and Kevin Bacon was good as always, but his character just didn't leave him as much space for perfect acting, unfortunately.
After the film was finished, I was left with a strange feeling of disappointment, dissatisfaction and a certain emptiness. Nothing of the film remained with me, no scene still lingered with me. Know what I mean? The film didn't really leave any impression on me. After looking forward to it for so long, I didn't know what had happened.
And then I watched it again, with the audio commentary on. But, sorry, although I like to see Mr Robbins and Mr Bacon as actors, they don't know how to do a good commentary. I didn't learn anything new about the film, no interesting background information, no funny stories about the shooting. So I turned the commentary off again.
But while watching again I noticed several things which probably had bothered me. The first scene with the boys where Dave gets into the car took away most of the tension. If the viewer wouldn't know about Dave's fate, the story would have been definitely more interesting, not that slow, more thrilling and so on. Other scenes like that where Dave comes home with his hands full of blood, should have been shot in a different way. His bloody hands were barely to be seen, there was no initial shock for the viewer. A different camera work could have done the trick. The phone calls by the cop's wife had nothing to do with the story. Why were they there? Cut them out. And like that it goes on.
To sum it up, I really can't recommend this film. With this cast and that director it could, it should have been a brilliant, perfect film. It is not. And this is an unbelievable pity. 5 out of 10. At best.