Offensively BAD

Rating: Null/10 (21 November 2007)

I really really hate this film and I'm flabbergasted at the amount of alleged love for it. I still refuse to believe that some of these positive reviews here are legitimate. Still, maybe my expectations were skewed going in to it. I was expecting a "Walking Tall" meets "Fargo" movie, a quirky and intense tough guy crime drama that would leave me satisfied. This movie and especially its resolution are the least satisfying in recent memory.
I've read the elitist argument about deeper themes and beautiful cinematography but without a story to pull it all together, who cares? To me, a movie is primarily about character and story. Even great performances and direction can't save a bad concept or story. This story is ugly on paper and it's despicable on screen. Some of the spoilers have been disgusted here so, there's no need to rehash them. Needless to say, killing characters may haunt and disturb the viewer but it's cheap emotion that normal movie goers will resent. The piecemeal dialogue is also off putting. Every exchange seems to be a poor parody tribute to Pulp Fiction style of dialog. Tommy Lee Jones' character being the worst "witty" offender.
I guarantee you that word of mouth from average movie goers will be quite poor for this trash. The only good thing is that after, people will feel truly betrayed by the critical consensuses and praise for it. This will farther erode trust in opinions of the critics. Making critics even more useless is never a bad thing. When I see the TV commercials for Old Country and the quotes they use, I resent every word and every critic mentioned. After others waste time and effort with this movie, I won't be the only resentful one.
Terrible, terrible movie.