The Devil's in the Details (2013) User Reviews

Good Story...Disappointing Finish

[eamole · 5/10 · 4 May 2016]

I was enjoying the story, the off-screen (and on screen) violence and action was gripping, the inter-weaved story and back story threads were engaging, building to an interesting climax...and then suddenly, nothing. Its like they ran out of film, money, time, patience, interest or all of the above. I can't believe they would have made this movie if this is a fair reflection of the screenplay. Disappointed, and puzzled.

why need 10 lines for a review?

Still disappointed, and puzzled.

I think my review is a valid review. Why should it be a minimum of 10 lines. Why force me to pad it...If this doesn't get accepted, I'll scrap it, and won't bother offering reviews in future.

Messy, hammy and often confusing ride

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 4/10 · 2 November 2013]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Since returning from a tour of duty, soldier Thomas Conrad (Joel Mathews) has had problems with drugs and struggling with demons, and has been sent to Dr. Robert Michaels (Ray Liotta) for assessment. He ends up regaling a story about a fender bender with a Mexican man, Bill Duffy (Emilio Rivera) which lead to him being forced to talk his father, his sister and a rival drug cartel into going along with a plan engineered by the ruthless Duffy.

I never got into it myself, but it seems the popular show 24 has spawned a lot of amateurish, tiresome wannabe imitations, that try and be all hip and cool with constant displays of the time at the bottom of the screen and telling the story in reverse, that are spoiling the enjoyment of a lot of modern film. The Devil's in the Details would be one such example, really just a total mess of a film that had potential in the script, but just made a total jumble of everything.

The cast try and make the best of the material, with Mathews giving it all an energy and gusto that it really doesn't deserve, and a unfazed Liotta all grey, and as dynamic and forceful as ever, but it all amounts to nothing, a totally forgettable, disposable nothing. **

not worth it

[daniel_c_p · 4/10 · 7 February 2014]

It took me about 5 months to make it to the end of this movie(honest), if YOU make it to the end you'll have a big question mark over your head regarding what happened to certain characters, how and why. Matthew's lines are oddly delivered, Liotta and Rivera do good performances, this movie has good elements of suspense and it works well as a thriller until you get to the end and wonder what happened to the last 20 minutes, it genuinely seems like the filmmakers ran out of money, or time renting the set, cameras, or something and just said "cut" and decided to roll the credits. much is left unresolved or unanswered and an ending that makes no sense when considering the rest of the film. Honestly Riveras performance raised this film from a 1 to a 4 for me,

Poor Ray

[dontreado · 1/10 · 19 May 2013]

I give Ray Liotta thumbs up for letting his hair go gray, and that's the only positive thing I can say about this one. Poor acting, choppy direction, dizzy camera work, weak plot, uninteresting characters. I cannot tell you how it ends because I FF'ed through a lot of it, and don't care. The lead actor in this seems to mug a lot and is more concerned with his looks then how he can make the stultifying dialog come to life. The interspersed scenes from one time frame to the next is a half way decent ploy in a good movie, but it's not working here. Nice to see some actors are still working though. I always wonder how can I care of feel empathy for any character in a movie, and in this movie I'm still wondering.

Acme Acting School Failure

[johncarabillo10 · 1/10 · 7 May 2013]

Terribly mixed performances...veteran actors allow neophyte protagonist to live long enough to kill any interest here. Glaring differences between portrayal skills. Non-stop panning camera shot in warehouse dungeon becomes wearying, script simply contrived, no real conversation or exchanges, just uttered lines. Blooper city. Not even laughable. This movie makes good actors Emilio Rivera and Ray Liotta look bad, and after an hour of viewing this disaster it's downright embarrassing, like watching a champion boxer take a dive. I had to turn it off. I don't care what the ending is. You're a better man than me if you finish watching this one.

Terrible

[larrys3 · 1/10 · 2 June 2013]

I probably couldn't find enough adjectives to express how awful this film is, one of the worst I've ever seen. Filled with torture and sadism, as well as incredibly muddled plot elements and flashbacks, I would say it's an insult to anyone's intelligence.

Joel Mathews portrays Thomas Conrad, a post traumatic stress disorder patient, being seen by Dr. Robert Michaels (Ray Liotta), a military psychiatrist. After a minor fender bender with a man named Bill (Emilio Rivera), Thomas is told no harm done, and invited to a local bar for a drink.

The next thing he knows he's tied to the ceiling and being tortured by Bill and his cohorts, who let him hear on the cell that his wife and daughter have been kidnapped and held hostage. Unless Thomas can get his father (a judge), his sister (a cop), and his brother (a border patrol officer) to cooperate in a crazy scheme involving robbing a dangerous Mexican drug cartel, they'll all be killed.

Pretty much the entire movie is Thomas being tortured as he tries to convince his family to cooperate with his captors. By the time the "big" surprise ending comes, I couldn't have cared less and felt I need to take a shower to get this drek off of me.

One of the worst movie I've ever seen.

[sanikok-565-783461 · 1/10 · 5 June 2013]

What a waste of time to watch this terrible movie. It would really make you sick. I watched this on the Netflix, but after this experience I will really hesitate to watch anything on Netflix. Never ever should anybody anytime anymore allow Waymon Boone to direct a movie in his lifetime. It's a huge mess, chaotic and nothing makes sense. The characters are idiotic and looks like idiots, acting dumb and nothing is believable. Bad acting with irritating music. The story is just simple awkward, I felt like I'm in the twilight zone. Very disappointing experience!So much booboo is coming out from Hollywood. What a waste of time to watch this terrible movie. It would really make you sick. I watched this on the Netflix, but after this experience I will really hesitate to watch anything on Netflix. Never ever should anybody anytime anymore allow Waymon Boone to direct a movie in his lifetime. It's a huge mess, chaotic and nothing makes sense. The characters are idiotic and looks like idiots, acting dumb and nothing is believable. Bad acting with irritating music. The story is just simple awkward, I felt like I'm in the twilight zone. Very disappointing experience!So much booboo is coming out from Hollywood.

WTH With the Ending

[dinatekno · 5/10 · 20 June 2021]

I sat through this to only can be away very disappointed with the ending. What happened to Ray Liotta? What happened to the protagonist's family? That ending where he embraces his (supposedly) divorced wife & daughter? The lead actor was not the best, all that torture & he remaining d clean shaven and never went to the bathroom in his pants with all the torture he endured. Was it all in his mind? Was it a breakthrough in therapy? I was intrigued by the plot, it seemed to have the possibility of going in PTSD & family relationships. The screenwriting was awful and agan, the lead actor, while passable in spots, just wasn't believable. I love Ray Liotta and I guess he just makes movies like this for fun??? I hope that's all it is, and that he's not broke - because he's a truly talented actor and should be being offered better scripts than this.

Solid Action/Thriller With Some Plot Twists

[sportsbros808 · 8/10 · 11 April 2016]

The Devil's In The Details is an independent action/thriller that has some really good parts. One of my favorites is Ray Liotta. I have been a fan of his since his Goodfellas days and I have seen pretty much everything he's been in since. So it was nice to see him in this.

Liotta plays a military psychiatrist who is seeing Thomas Conrad (played by Joel Mathews) who is suffering from PTSD. So Conrad gets in an accident with this guy and all seems okay. But then the drama gets cranked up to eleven and all hell breaks loose.

Conrad is forced to get members of his family who work in law enforcement to help out a drug cartel. The plot gets a little convoluted but director Waymon Boone keeps the film moving forward at a nice clip. He does a good job of building tension and had a vision for this film that really came out in the finished product.

The story jumps around a bit with some flashbacks so you need to pay attention. But the pace of the film helps build tension and has you anticipating the next plot point.

As I have said this is an independent film so it didn't have a large budget. However, the cast and crew do a lot with what they have. I really liked this film and not just because of Ray Liotta. Overall, it was a good action/thriller with some nice plot twists and solid performances.

A different kind of action/suspense movie where the suspense is on screen but the action is in your imagination. I liked it. I say B+

[cosmo_tiger · 7/10 · 11 March 2013]

"We're here to identify your moments. Your moments and events that lead you here into this room." After serving his country in a brutal tour Thomas Conrad is having a hard time adjusting to "normal" life. He is sent to see someone (Liotta) who will help him adjust. While there he begins to explore the problems he has had with his family as well as recalling his meeting with a drug cartel enforcer (Rivera) that changed his life forever. Going in I was expecting the normal B-action movie type plot and idea. I have to admit that this was actually not as bad as I was expecting and actually kept me watching and interested. The movie is pretty suspenseful even though the movie is pretty much played out in a way that you imagine all the action. Thtoughout the movie you see Thomas being tortured and talking to his family trying to save everyone but not the actual action, to me that is really a neat idea and adds to the enjoyment. I won't say it's exactly like reading a book, but it's close. If you like suspense and have a good imagination then this is a movie you will enjoy. Overall, an original type of action movie with a very interesting presentation. I liked it. I give it a B+.