Must See Movie...

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Awesome Movie

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A well-off family suffers a crisis when their teenaged son is accused of killing a girl he was dating. The plot develops as expected, with the police suspicions wearing away at the parents' denial, especially the father's. I found the film's dialogue annoying, the characters unlikable, and I was totally surprised that Streep and Neeson would appear in it.Not recommended unless there's nothing else to watch or you don't mind watching a film while in a state of continual annoyance.

Ben (Liam Neeson) and Dr. Carolyn Ryan (Meryl Streep) are a regular couple until Martha Taverner is killed. Sheriff Fran Conklin (Daniel von Bargen) tells them that their son Jacob (Edward Furlong) was dating Martha and the last one to see her. Ben refuses to let Conklin search the car without a warrant. Ben finds bloody clothes in the trunk of the car and decides to burn it. Family friend Wendell Bye (John Heard) is their lawyer. Jacob goes on the run while the town turns against the family. Inquisitive daughter Judith Ryan (Julia Weldon) struggles with the family turmoil. Jacob is arrested and they hire criminal defense lawyer Panos Demeris (Alfred Molina).Carolyn's relentless naivety is kind of annoying. I understand that's the character but it is annoying nevertheless. While she's clueless, he's completely unstable. He's doing stuff that makes no sense. I find these parents annoying when they're trying desperately to be the Cleavers. It's horribly melodramatic like a bad TV movie. This family keeps making stupid mistakes and I can't root for them. Edward Furlong is fully into his angry teenage years. It doesn't even allow for a mystery. The kid tells his parents the truth but tells his lawyer a fabrication. That makes no sense. It's like they don't understand legal privilege which is annoying because they seem to be educated people.

It's amazing to read the reviews on these pages, how everyone has an opinion about films and especially a film that tries to be as close to real life as possible. Some find it a relevant character study, others are hung up on the plot holes. To be more precise, a gaping plot hole as the mystery of this plot is finally unfolded.To get in my point, this is a movie. It's not the best movie ever made, to me it doesn't really represent reality and there are plot holes, but I simply don't care. I am more interested if a movie can involve me or even change me in some way. Sad to say, this does not fall under that category.I am a great fan of both Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep. I will go as far as to say that Meryl Streep can play just about everything. But in playing a part that you perhaps invest a little too much of yourself in, you fall victim to either trying too hard not to show that you're acting or trying to overact. For this film, I wish the actors were a little more willing to overact. That would have made this a lot more enjoyable. Everything, from the characters reactions to the machinations of the plot seem overly calculated. There is not a big moment of release, as is normally usual in these types of film. Liam Neeson seems at first to be a buffoon in what he does to protect his son, but then we get reasoning, that what he did, is exactly what you should do in cases like these. A little too much of a coincidence, don't you think? As for Edward Furlong, he looks so tiny. It is actually brilliant casting because never in a million years, would you consider him a threat to anything. Liam Neeson looks like he could squash him with his thumb. Meryl Streep could probably kill him with one slap.There should not be made some significance about a movie like this. Don't dare call it reality. It is at least a distorted reality. Character study? They do a better job on something like any drama series you can think of.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I had put off watching it for a long time because I thought it would fall on standard clichés in the telling of its murder mystery. But there's a lot to like here. For starters, the performances by the lead actors are first rate. Streep and Neeson come across as real people tackling a real problem. I should also add that Alfred Molina also gives a solid performance as the defense attorney. (Though the fact he looks like idiot movie critic Michael Medved gave me a few chuckles at times.) The script gives most of its characters a fair shake. The parents are sympathetic at times, but sometimes they make decisions we disapprove of. The townspeople and police are not one-note characters, showing off more than one side.The movie unfolds at a pace that keeps us interested and informed. It's directed with an appropriate bleak look that suits the subject matter.There is one flaw with the movie, however. I thought that Edward Furlong's character was repulsive, stupid, and hateful. I don't blame Furlong for this, but his direction and his parts of the screenplay. I think a better way the movie could have gone would be to give him a mixed view, neither overly sympathetic or hateful. This would make the viewer think long and hard about him, and wonder if his fate at the end of the movie is correct or not.