Very poor film

Rating: 2/10 (6 June 2005)

I'm one of a tiny minority of viewers who feel that this film is almost horrifyingly bad. I respect all the people involved--Eastwood is a fine artist, as are Linney, Robbins, etc--but Eastwood's film, except for a few performances and technical aspects, never even rises to the level of mediocrity. Eastwood trusts the performers too much to correct the bad acting which repeatedly crops up. The dialogue, by the otherwise admirable Helgeland, is often woefully unrealistic and ham-handed. Above all, the story is a complete disappointment; the audience is left mystified, rather than wowed, at the film's epilogue. Clearly this film was not made for me.