Very good! Great acting and well-directed.

Rating: 9/10 (13 April 2007)

I really enjoyed this movie! I normally don't watch many dramas but lately I've been trying to catch up on this genre and in particular award-winning films of recent years.
This movie grabs you right from the beginning. It is amazingly efficient in creating an atmosphere and establishing the main characters and their feelings surrounding an event that occurred when they were young. It is engaging the whole way through and it generally focuses on the emotions of the characters and situations rather than technical plot developments and exposition. It's about the why as opposed to the how, when, what, where and who. That's not to say there isn't any mystery - there is plenty.
What really seemed to make the movie work was the acting. All the main actors were great. The performances brought the characters to life and their emotions for the most part felt real. The movie explored ideas I had not really seen before in a movie and I found these very interesting.
Most importantly for me, the movie was very engaging and rewarding. It was far from predictable or clichÃ©d and explored some very interesting and intense ideas and emotions. Everything is held together by the excellent directing and solid script. I liked the music a lot as well and was very surprised to find out Clint Eastwood composed it himself!