Every reviewer so far has missed a giant clue left for us by the filmmakers: The protagonist/grieving father/orchestra conductor is a former Special Forces operator. The clue is the scarf he wears throughout his time in the wilderness... it's obviously a souvenir from his time in Iraq.
I think other reviewers are too harsh in their criticisms of the film. I agree, the dialogue is pretty horrible, but the main characters do a fine job; the acting is solid. There are some obvious inconsistencies, like the fact that Big Al hates his daughter, didn't bother to give her a name, calls her "maggot" but spent more money on her braces than he spent on his trailer. Also, no one recovers from puncture wounds like the guys in this movie. All in all though, it's a great revenge and redemption flick, and honestly, the cinematography might be the most beautiful I've ever seen. It's seriously amazing.
A couple other things worth mentioning:
1) The character of Big Al is hilarious, albeit perhaps unintentionally so. The things she says to his deaf wife made me laugh out loud. Referring to her sign language as "deaf waiving" was brilliant. The guy is married to a deaf woman but never managed to learn any sign language and is absolutely hostile to her deafness. He's like a less sophisticated "Raging Bull."
2) Jack's daughter is an idiot. Walking across the street without looking and then staring at the car that hits her instead of jumping out of the way... it's hard to gin up much sympathy for her. It must be said though that Sarah Dorothy is a fine actress and it's not her fault her character is too stupid to be allowed to walk on pavement.
3) Jack's wife is horrible and I was glad when she cashed in her chips. She even left a suicide note for Jack saying, "It was your fault," when it was just as much her fault.
4) The first rule of orchestra conducting is Turn off your phone. The second rule is, if you forget to turn off your phone, for god's sake, don't answer it in the middle of a performance!
5) I was a bit worried that something creepy was gonna happen, what with a grown forest man camping out in the woods with a teenage girl on the run from murderous kinfolk, but spoiler alert... Jack keeps it professional and nothing untoward occurs.
Great film, I will watch it again.
I think other reviewers are too harsh in their criticisms of the film. I agree, the dialogue is pretty horrible, but the main characters do a fine job; the acting is solid. There are some obvious inconsistencies, like the fact that Big Al hates his daughter, didn't bother to give her a name, calls her "maggot" but spent more money on her braces than he spent on his trailer. Also, no one recovers from puncture wounds like the guys in this movie. All in all though, it's a great revenge and redemption flick, and honestly, the cinematography might be the most beautiful I've ever seen. It's seriously amazing.
A couple other things worth mentioning:
1) The character of Big Al is hilarious, albeit perhaps unintentionally so. The things she says to his deaf wife made me laugh out loud. Referring to her sign language as "deaf waiving" was brilliant. The guy is married to a deaf woman but never managed to learn any sign language and is absolutely hostile to her deafness. He's like a less sophisticated "Raging Bull."
2) Jack's daughter is an idiot. Walking across the street without looking and then staring at the car that hits her instead of jumping out of the way... it's hard to gin up much sympathy for her. It must be said though that Sarah Dorothy is a fine actress and it's not her fault her character is too stupid to be allowed to walk on pavement.
3) Jack's wife is horrible and I was glad when she cashed in her chips. She even left a suicide note for Jack saying, "It was your fault," when it was just as much her fault.
4) The first rule of orchestra conducting is Turn off your phone. The second rule is, if you forget to turn off your phone, for god's sake, don't answer it in the middle of a performance!
5) I was a bit worried that something creepy was gonna happen, what with a grown forest man camping out in the woods with a teenage girl on the run from murderous kinfolk, but spoiler alert... Jack keeps it professional and nothing untoward occurs.
Great film, I will watch it again.
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