Occasionally Entertaining and Clunky

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2013)

Uneven with some great flourishes and some unwelcome clunk. The Director's visual flare is evident everywhere and the Movie's look is impressive. But there are other things that bring down the Cool Artistic touches.
There is very little Mamet-Speak and the Dialog can sometimes feel very awkward. Speaking of awkward, Costner gives another DoDo Bird outing that gives even more credence that this Man is, and never was, a candidate for a Lead Actor.
There is some dazzle here, mostly with the Movie Camera and some trademark bloody Violence, the Musical Score cuts its way into the proceedings with some striking Staccato, and there is enough visual appeal to make this an attractively mounted Period Play.
But then there are the misfires like the the Canadian Scene and probably the worst, the Courtroom Ending that is confusing and boring. Overall it is a mediocre mix with some bad Writing from a usually stimulating Writer, a stiff Performance by an almost always stiff Leading Man, and some rough Storytelling by a Good Director that isn't usually this inconsistent.