I had some problems with the film that keeps it from hitting a much higher rating:
Friends never put other friends in harm's way. This is a real-world life lesson. Friends can do lots of other stuff but never put friends (or loved ones) in harms way. Enemies do that. Sociopaths do that. Manipulators do that.
Frank tricked his friends into coming over, he got them drunk (to impair their judgment). He finally put them in a situation where they were accomplices to a brutal physical assault with the intention of murder.
He forced his friends to choose, in the briefest of moments (while impaired), between aiding in murder or turning on him (and daughter - which he used as a tool to manipulate them). The fact that they were all cozy friendly afterwards - turned my stomach.
Chad Walker's contrived response: He was first begging for his life. This is a natural response. The moment he thought he had leverage (while still tied up, while still afraid for his life), he became *overly* aggressive. He even called Frank's daughter a wh*re to the man who was going to kill him moments earlier. Seriously?
We can explain this away but it felt forced for the purpose of creating false/contrived drama. Getting out of that situation (promising to walk away and never say anything seemed so much more natural).
Packie's willingness to commit murder (or aid in it) didn't fit his character. Can we forgive this even if he was impaired? (Swaino's response was so much better).
The current rating for this film of 6.7 is about right. Great drama (rating a 9) for the first hour and 20 minutes. Fizzle's out toward the end plus the issues noted above lower my overall rating to 7.
Friends never put other friends in harm's way. This is a real-world life lesson. Friends can do lots of other stuff but never put friends (or loved ones) in harms way. Enemies do that. Sociopaths do that. Manipulators do that.
Frank tricked his friends into coming over, he got them drunk (to impair their judgment). He finally put them in a situation where they were accomplices to a brutal physical assault with the intention of murder.
He forced his friends to choose, in the briefest of moments (while impaired), between aiding in murder or turning on him (and daughter - which he used as a tool to manipulate them). The fact that they were all cozy friendly afterwards - turned my stomach.
Chad Walker's contrived response: He was first begging for his life. This is a natural response. The moment he thought he had leverage (while still tied up, while still afraid for his life), he became *overly* aggressive. He even called Frank's daughter a wh*re to the man who was going to kill him moments earlier. Seriously?
We can explain this away but it felt forced for the purpose of creating false/contrived drama. Getting out of that situation (promising to walk away and never say anything seemed so much more natural).
Packie's willingness to commit murder (or aid in it) didn't fit his character. Can we forgive this even if he was impaired? (Swaino's response was so much better).
The current rating for this film of 6.7 is about right. Great drama (rating a 9) for the first hour and 20 minutes. Fizzle's out toward the end plus the issues noted above lower my overall rating to 7.