It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I just finished watching " Restitution " and was blown away by the twist ending. Maybe my brain was on standby because of it being a Sunday afternoon and all, but I did not see it coming. I was also shocked to see how many rated this film so poorly. Sure Bierlein is no Pacino, but to write, produce and star in this film is quite impressive, considering how intriguing it was. I was pulled into the plot line immediately and never looked back. Mena Suvari and Tom Arnold were exceptional and it was nice to see C. Thomas Howell again. I won't spoil the plot for anyone who might want to check this movie out, but I will say this movie is not what it appears to be just like some of its main characters. A captivating murder mystery with enough action and plot twists to keep you enthralled for 100 plus minutes!!!!

When I tried to see why some people had a lower opinion of the movie than me, some of the reviews complained that the plot made no sense, but I saw fewer plot holes in this movie than I did with Hard Candy, another movie I just saw recently. I'll get into my review first and then cover some comments about other reviewers' complaints.From a story point of view, I thought it was an interesting enough twist. Acting was OK. OK, I'll have to agree with one of the reviewers that perhaps Tom Arnold did shine the best with his typical Tom Arnold type of character (annoying but somehow likable). To me, I would say the biggest complaint I had about the movie is that it had a Made for TV feel to it. Part of it was the script where it was a partial comedy with Tom's character, but a type of crime thriller, too. However, what gave it most the Made for TV feel was the directing/camera handling. I also just saw the movie Colombiana recently, and it's day and night difference between the two movies how to give a movie the "big screen" feel. With this type of directing, it's not surprising that the actors were able to do more than just a passable job.*** SPOILERS BELOW ***To comment on some of the reviews which said that the movie did not make sense, one reviewer complained about the doctor being brutalized in broad daylight. If the viewer had been paying attention, the two thugs were simply "escorting" the doctor, most likely to a boat where they can dump him in the middle of the river. They didn't start roughing him up until they got toward the end of the pier where there was no one else around. Perhaps to give the story line the benefit of the doubt, this is when they needed to "convince" the doctor to get into the boat. However, since Alex came along, they decided to just shoot the doctor right there. Actually, this makes sense since if their objective is to kill the doctor, it would be a lot dumber to not finish the job just because someone caught on to what you were doing. Now, the scene itself was a bit odd because Alex was shooting and it wasn't clear if he was just shooting, not really aiming at them, because he didn't know what else to do... Or in case he was aiming at them, then he didn't seem to care whether he accidentally hit the doctor or not.So this scene could have been better planned, and there were others as well, but to me, it didn't detract from the enjoyment of the movie since I already was in the opinion that this had a Made for TV feel to it.Another reviewer complained that when Alex appeared, people started dying...? I am assuming this is what he meant and not when Brian first appeared. If he meant Brian, then that is one of the reasons they pinpointed the murders on Brian. But if the viewer meant Alex, technically speaking, Alex did not start killing people until the end. It was Tom's character who killed the first guys after Alex's arrival. For the reviewer who complained about the role of an insurance fraud investigator... All we know is that Brian was hired to videotape these people. Perhaps in a real fraud investigation, there are different people who have different roles, one of which is the person who does the videotaping. But anyway, as we find out anyway, he was not hired to do real insurance fraud investigation. This was a down-on-his-luck kind of guy who was taking any job he could get... so he was told to videotape under the pretense of fraud insurance. Since we find out it was not fraud insurance, then there doesn't need to be any connection to reality to what a real fraud investigator does... How is Brian supposed to know?Anyway, so I enjoyed the twist in the movie, and while definitely not one of the better movies out there, I thought it was worthwhile watching on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Uh?....eh?...what?....This is my fault. I can't stop a movie after a few minutes. So most of this very bad feeling is 'cause of me.And this startling clunker. I've seen bad movies. Movies that make you angry. And this rates up there with them. But you don't do this bad unless you are doing it on purpose for some really strange reason. Mental illness? All that money down the drain. I know actors have to eat like everyone else. But you didn't have to do this.How 'bout a revenge movie where you talk your nemesis into financing your really bad movie and it's this one?I'm forgiving enough to actually admit that Tom Arnold has done some decent acting in the past. But he was bad and probably the best thing in this at the same time.The two bright spots were some decent cinematography and a good final fight scene. That's where I awarded the 2 points. But the pain, oh the pain!An amazingly stupid story where this guy is framed for several murders to cover-up the dealings of the bad guys. He's then tossed in the river alive. (Just shoot him? Oh no!) Then his friend arrives a year later to investigate the situation. Bad scene, bad scene, bad scene. The friend's body was previously discovered. Bad scene, bad scene. Good fight scene. THEN the friend and the framed friend turn out to be the same guy!He apparently survived being dumped in the river and then spent the next year preparing himself to come back and avenge...solve....I don't know. But he left Mena Suvari floatin' the wind for a year? And I have a few more questions.If the "hero's" body was found, who's body was it? Why did he dig up his own grave if he knew it was empty?What exactly were the bad guys doing? Drugs? Did they bother to try and explain? 'cause I'm not going' back in there to find out.Why were all the bad guys doing their bad guy activities in broad daylight with plenty of witnesses around? Was workin' nights overtime?In what reality was it a good idea to let the "hero/lead" actor anywhere near the set (he's also the writer and in another movie he wrote)? Oh dear Matilda he is bad! Being a bad writer wasn't enough. Absolutely he had pictures of the director with a goat to get that part. In a bad movie with bad acting he outstripped all of the other cast. I'm not a good lookin' man but could easily sell the part better than he did. He looked like a bad, over-the-hill comic. There are a lot of things in life that I don't understand. George W was elected twice? Obama and Romney (at this moment) are runnin' neck and neck? And someone read this script and said "okay, let's do it" and wrote a check, too? Now I have to get an industrial strength shredder that will tear through a DVD. (I'm not going to be the one responsible for anybody else ripping 101 minutes out of their life.)

I watch a lot of movies and commonly go against the reviewer grain. This movie had me hooked from the beginning to the end. Great quality production at only $2.5 million? Unbelievable. Stellar cast as well (Tom Arnold is great; C. Thomas Howell shares top billing but is seen less frequently; Mena Suvari from American Beauty and American Pie is stellar providing continuity throughout the movie). I will watch this movie again. Writer/director Lance K. R. Kawas and writer/star Mark Bierlein--you have the "gift"! Some criticism for style twists were not a problem for me. In fact I became more hooked as the circumstances escalated. My favorite story is when ordinary people are called to respond to circumstances they did not create. This movie did not disappoint.