Z/Web

Once again, my opinion is heavily influenced by the promotion. I saw the trailer for this film many times and its heavy-handedness did not give me much optimism. But it’s much better than the trailer. For example, the trailer begins with a memory of the father shaving and putting shaving cream on his little girl, supposedly a fond, tender moment, and cutting to her death as an adult come home to visit and leaving the door open for the main story, the father searching for his daughter’s killer. But the flashback comes across as schmaltzy in the trailer. In the film, I loved it: that shaving cream scene happens toward the very end and we already know all the characters and what they have gone through and the scene is longer with more details, and it’s excellent. The rest of the movie is similar: what seems trite in the trailer, is actually pretty good in context. The film isn’t that much action: it’s a lot more about a grieving father, a complicated political cover-up, mysterious men, and a time bomb father who we worry might go off at any moment. I didn’t much care for the story: the “mystery” isn’t much of a mystery, and even when it’s explained, it’s nothing remarkable, but I did like the way the film worked overall. It’s not a film I’d want to see again, but it’s above average and worth seeing the first time. There are many nice moments. It’s boring in places, and the cover-up and political intrigue is overdone and too complicated, but even within that there are some interesting scenes and ideas. (I really liked the way the bad guys sat around talking about various scenarios and how to handle with the situation. That showed that this wasn’t an elaborate, well-planned scheme but people on the edge trying to stay one step ahead of getting caught.) The bottom line: a decent thriller. Not unbelievably awesome, but I don’t think you’d be disappointed if you saw it. It’s got some good action in places, and some of the human moments are very good. The overall ending is good and I really liked the very end.