A very enjoyable multi-layered crime drama...

Rating: 8/10 (18 March 2012)

Made in a very realistic style which, as with his directorial debut, 'Gone Baby Gone' (2007), matches the mood of the piece really well. All the performances were excellent, but I particularly liked Rebecca Hall as Claire Keesey, Jeremy Renner as James Coughlin and Blake Lively as his sister, Krista Coughlin; all three put in sterling performances. Of course, Ben Affleck proved once again what a fine actor he is as Doug MacRay. Also worthy of note were; Jon Hamm as FBI S.A. Adam Frawley, Slaine as Albert 'Gloansy' Magloan, Owen Burke as Desmond Elden, Titus Welliver as Dino Ciampa and finally a mention for Pete Postlethwaite as 'The Florist', Fergus 'Fergie' Colm in one of his last roles.
A complicated plot that's quite heavy on dialogue in places, but there are some very nicely put together action scenes in there too. There are several threads to the story that all tie up in the end, although the poignant ending does leave the audience guessing to some extent. I must say I did enjoy this film with its multi-layered plot and, at times, edgy style. It's certainly one I would give another viewing to at some point in the future Recommended.
My score: 8.3/10.
IMDb Score: 7.6/10 (based on 118,712 votes at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 94/100 (based on 210 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 83/100 (based on 110,251 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.