Unsatisfactory.

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2003)

I've seen the movie and read many critiques. The only thing I haven't done is read the book. I still felt unsatisfied with this film. Yes, I agree with everyone saying that the acting is great. No, I don't agree that Eastwood directed brilliantly and no, I don't agree that the story was well written and scripted. Eastwood has always had the problem of pacing his films way too slowly. The material here helps Eastwood keep a better pace than usual, but there were numerous moments during the film that I felt time dragging on (let's get to the point Clint!) Also, let me critique the screenplay/story. Yeah, yeah, so the story is Shakespearean--what???? I didn't feel that at all. I felt like this was just another crime film with great acting and character development. However, how the characters developed left much to be desired. I simply did not care by the end of the film. What I did feel was confusion and anger. Why were these characters behaving the way they did at the very end--it just didn't add up. Kevin Bacon's character did nothing????? What? Why? The 'mystery' part of the film was handled fairly, but there are not that many suspects and when the suspect is apprehended there's no satisfaction. Mistakes that Sean Penn's character engage in late in the film are also unsatisfying because nothing gets resolved. I just felt short changed by the story mostly. If the ending had been tightened up and reasonably resolved, I might have thought Oscar time. As it is, Penn and Robbins were good, but Oscar calibre? Mmmmm, no. Maybe if the film had been better, then yes. And another thing, I kept thinking (because of Eastwood's direction) that more was going to be show/explained about Dave's abduction, but by the end of the film, it felt like one more unresolved and unsatisfying piece of the story. Also, pointless to have Sean's character periodically speaking to his wife over the phone. I didn't care about her, but I did want to know more about why their relationship was the way it was (which never was RESOLVED!) Too many unresolved plot pieces and somehow all the critics felt this film was THE BEST, THE GREATEST? I'm waiting a couple of months for the real Oscar contenders.