Good (not great film)

Rating: 7/10 (2 August 2016)

OK it is a Clint Eastwood film. So here goes.
The Good:
1. Stellar cast and great performances all around. Sean Penn shines! 2. Clint's direction is spellbinding (for the most part). 3. Unconventional story line. Keeps you hooked until the end to find out who the murderer was.
The Bad:
1. Annabeth's (Laura Linney) BS about Jimmy (Sean Penn) being King etc. just comes out of nowhere and it is just that, BS. She lets Jimmy kill Dave (Tim Robbins), her cousin Celeste's husband because well, he is the king! Really? That was so completely out of character for her, the way she is portrayed for the rest of the film.
2. Jimmy being portrayed as some sort of a poor man's Godfather is not entirely convincing. Him killing Dave is even less so.
The Ugly:
1. Lauren Devine's (Kevin Bacon's wife) character is utterly ridiculous. And you are left wondering why she returns to Sean (Kevin Bacon) in the end. Talk about resolution with no logic.
2. Kid killers and the killing: The way the killing happens is so random, you are rendered "speechless" (sorry, one of the kid killers is mute). The behavior of the two kids after the killing, is very unnatural. They go around as if nothing happened fooling everyone. Yet Dave completely unravels after he kills a pedophile (understandably so).
3. The ending:
a. Gosh, talk about an unsatisfying ending. The last 10-15 minutes spoils the entire film which until then is running great!
b. Sean's reaction to Jimmy after he gets to know he killed Dave is again out of character especially after he knows that he also killed Just Ray. Yet earlier, he reacts with righteous indignation when he is accused of going soft on Dave as he was the suspect.
c. The parade scene ending gives a load of "what's going on here?" moments shot after shot. Certainly the low point in the film.
Yes, the review is harsh but I still hold on to the 7 stars rating. It is well worth a watch for sure.