Jennifer Rubin

John Getz

Colin Firth

Jeff Perry

Arthur Taxier

Dean Norris

Belinda Waymouth

Diane Robin

Stephen Polk

Clare Kirkconnell

Kathryn Nemesh

Darren Block

Michael Schroeder

Yuri Zeltser

Thomas Baer

Marc Samuelson

Peter Samuelson

Mark Snow

Ross Berryman

Diane Hughes

Phillip Vasels

John Rosenberg

Donald Paul Pemrick

Becky Cotton

Karen E. Frischmann

Lisa Demaine

Craig Clark

Patrick Cyccone Jr.

Eric Williams

Stanley Kastner

Chuck Borden

Robert Calvert

Dyanna Lynn

Adam Goldfine

Mystery

Thriller

Playmaker

Orion Pictures

United States of America

I guess, to be honest, I'm giving this 10 of 10 stars just because I like films like this and, when it came out when I was 14 I really loved those moody independent mysteries that really wanted to buck for film noir and mostly never achieved it.

And now as an adult, I still like them, but with the refined taste of preferring the ones that were actually done right... or at least the ones that hit the troupes with a bit of success.

Looking at it through a critical eye, however, the plot doesn't stand up to analysis. If you are the kind of critical couch coach you're going to be yelling at the television and facepalming more than a few times... but that's kind of part of the charm of films like this. The ones that are done well keep it to a minimum, but even then the "WTF were they thinking!" moments are a source of entertainment themselves.

And it has Jennifer Rubin, who does decent jobs and should have had bigger roles in her career. In this case she does a fine job of balancing naive and stupid enough to not turn to the camera and yell at the writers because of the above mentioned moments, and still comes across as someone that can solve the mystery.

And it's the "Mystery" again, that is keeping this from being a truly good film. It's that dark sort of total suspension of disbelief, if you don't just shrug and go with it you'll be irritated to no end kind of mystery.

Because, honestly, outside of that the acting is pretty stellar, Firth and Rubin both nail their roles, the film is moody enough to fit the genre, it's got that 90s indie Hollywoodphile vibe that everyone loves... but it just does it with a lot that makes you want to strangle the writer and situations that will leave a nice large red mark on you forehead.

Honestly though, despite all of that, it actually manages to entertain. You won't be bored watching it, this is a film you can still enjoy and, at the end of the day, that is the only reason to make a movie. That is the one goal that all films should place above all objectives.

English