Great adaptation, lousy production

Rating: 6/10 (8 November 2003)

One of the more effective novel-to-film adaptations I have seen.
The things that were trimmed from the novel would have been
difficult to convey on screen (the "conversations" with Sean's wife
almost suffered without the kind of background a novel can offer).
Acting and casting were also terrific. Leads were very good,
although Bacon had little to work with. Penn, Robbins, and
Harden were outstanding. Every bit part was interesting and
colorfully portrayed.
Where this movie fell down for me was in its production values.
The cinematography was on par with an average television
movie-of-the-week, and the production sound was just godawful. I
went to a high quality theater that I frequent and know to be a
faithful venue as far as image and soundtrack, and I couldn't make
out quite a bit of the dialog.
Also, Clint took it upon himself to do the music, which was a
mistake. The themes were really very elementary and lacked any
sense of irony. Even a b-list FULL TIME composer could have
gently taken this to another level. 6/10