Warning: Spoilers Within
This movie seems to be a favorite with a certain age group of young men. There are hardly any comments here from women.
As a film, the first part is much more convincing than the last. The story of the children and the performances of the actors is very good and very believable. The film goes downhill fast when the so called "stars" make their appearance. There is nothing remarkable about the performances of Pitt, Hoffman, and DeNiro. The film would have been much better off (and a lot cheaper to produce) if they had stayed with unknowns. Kevin Bacon, on the other hand, gives an excellent performance.
I would have enjoyed this film a lot more if the "revenge" factor had shown a little more originality that just two thugs blowing away Bacon in a pub. Not only was this a hideous crime that involved Bacon but it also wreaked havoc on the lives of those who witnessed it not to mention the cost of cleaning up the mess for the owner of the establishment. There was no sympathy in the mind of this viewer for the characters who carried out this act.
The fact that the prosecutor was the boyhood friend and detention hall mate was a little hard to believe. It was also very hard to believe that a priest would lie to save these two murderers. Whatever happened to the moral of "two wrongs don't make a right"? And, would the jury believe the priest since the defendants had never claimed that they had been to the basketball game on the night of the shooting? If they had an alibi, they would never have been charged. The conclusion is not very believable.
It's too bad the last third of the film could not equal the quality of the first two-thirds.
This movie seems to be a favorite with a certain age group of young men. There are hardly any comments here from women.
As a film, the first part is much more convincing than the last. The story of the children and the performances of the actors is very good and very believable. The film goes downhill fast when the so called "stars" make their appearance. There is nothing remarkable about the performances of Pitt, Hoffman, and DeNiro. The film would have been much better off (and a lot cheaper to produce) if they had stayed with unknowns. Kevin Bacon, on the other hand, gives an excellent performance.
I would have enjoyed this film a lot more if the "revenge" factor had shown a little more originality that just two thugs blowing away Bacon in a pub. Not only was this a hideous crime that involved Bacon but it also wreaked havoc on the lives of those who witnessed it not to mention the cost of cleaning up the mess for the owner of the establishment. There was no sympathy in the mind of this viewer for the characters who carried out this act.
The fact that the prosecutor was the boyhood friend and detention hall mate was a little hard to believe. It was also very hard to believe that a priest would lie to save these two murderers. Whatever happened to the moral of "two wrongs don't make a right"? And, would the jury believe the priest since the defendants had never claimed that they had been to the basketball game on the night of the shooting? If they had an alibi, they would never have been charged. The conclusion is not very believable.
It's too bad the last third of the film could not equal the quality of the first two-thirds.