Technically well-done but not terribly original

Rating: 5/10 (23 January 2011)

A technically well-done, but largely unoriginal, and overlong, film. Most of it was still enjoyable-- at times it even seemed like Affleck was content not to make his character the most prominent or even most likable character-- but towards the end the story became less credible. Afflect seemed to remember he was the star and the director. The ending, which was reportedly a substantial change from that of the novel on which the film was based, seemed a cop-out (no pun intended). I also learned that even if a character sprays automatic weapon fire indiscriminately, if the camera doesn't expressly show his bullets hitting someone, and they express some remorse, the person can still claim he never killed anyone, and he can be seen, all in all, as a good guy. The Irish-American accents seemed overdone to me, but I did read that much work was done to ensure that the accents in the film were authentic.