You look at the cast. An award-winning cast in front of and behind the camera. You look at the genre. Crime drama. Sounds promising? You look at the length. At over 2 hours running time, you possibly have some doubts, since so few films in the history of the medium have managed to sustain interest at that length, but, you tell yourself, with such credentials, how can you go wrong? Well, the answer is, it is easier than it looks, for this is a very flawed film, with major timing, casting, and writing problems, that succeeds (ie, remains reasonably entertaining and suspenseful) in spite of itself. And painfully so. Interestingly, the film itself is a throwback to an era a few decades earlier (the 80s) when "trick endings" or "messing with the audience's head" was more popular. There is a reason that kind of film died. Ironically, for a story which itself is about opposing capital punishment, the production of this specific film is proof that these sorts of twisty-turny stories really should be euthanized before film is ever loaded in the camera. The first 20 minutes of the film (literally) is one movie by itself, full of great acting, dialog, and promise. Then, at the 20 min mark, Kevin Spacey's character comes onboard and immediately there are issues. It is not so much that he does a bad job, as it is the casting. The role is the antithesis of the type of role Spacey usually plays (meek and innocent as opposed to powerful and evil) and this creates a "disconnect" with the viewer that becomes progressively more uncomfortable as the film winds down the overlong road it has chosen. The killer (of the film, not of the script) is the last 20 minutes, where (effectively) a third movie starts, completely different from the first two. By this stage the audience feels on a subliminal level like a chicken being plucked and headed for the pot. Clearly, there is something going on here, the dialog and action reveals, but you won't know what until the very end, until the Big Reveal.
In past reviews, this reviewer has been very critical of films that attempt to succeed based almost entirely because of their ability to mess with the audience. This film is no exception to that stance. Overlong, and structurally very damaged, the end result I believe is but a shadow of what the director originally intended. In other words, an experiment gone bad. With hindsight, it is astounding that the film holds interest at all.
In past reviews, this reviewer has been very critical of films that attempt to succeed based almost entirely because of their ability to mess with the audience. This film is no exception to that stance. Overlong, and structurally very damaged, the end result I believe is but a shadow of what the director originally intended. In other words, an experiment gone bad. With hindsight, it is astounding that the film holds interest at all.