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Fantastic!

Absolutely brilliant

The acting in this movie is really good.

If you like neo-noir and Michael Madsen, then this will be entertaining.First, it has a great cast supporting Madsen: Shannyn Sossamon, Gary Busey, Michael Rooker, and the always interesting Danny Trejo.Sossamon did a really good job in this low budget indie. Madsen was great as a dirty cop that is handling one last case that may reveal his secrets. Corey Large is a mysterious cop brought in allegedly from Miami to help.There is a big twist at the end a la The Usual Suspects.Outstanding cinematography.

A pretty decent and entertaining movie. The story is engaging and so are its characters, the acting is decent to excellent (I would agree with another reviewer that Large turns in the weakest performance, but it's still not too bad, and perhaps his lack of "emoting" might even be considered "in character" [1]), and its done well technically. I found it entertaining.One thing that seemed slightly odd, though, is that at the end of the movie it seemed as if it had intended to surprise its audience with a "plot twist". Really? I do not necessarily pride myself as someone who can figure out plot twists way in advance---I knew something fishy was going down in the Sixth Sense but did not know what it was, and I did not see the twist in the Usual Suspects coming. But this one? C'mon, pretty early on the movie essentially sticks the audience's nose in it, and throughout there are those "hints" being dropped that point like neon signs to the solution. It really felt more like the movie was letting the audience in on the truth without any of the characters knowing it, until the end---the way it was shot just made sense if the director assumed that up to that point (a large part of) the audience was essentially unaware of what was going on. Which it might have been, if it was asleep or running for popcorn when it was all laid out, didn't speak the language, or had never seen a movie before.But even though it seems that the director slightly underestimates a modern audience, it's still an okay movie, and it remains interesting in spite of knowing the "solution"---I am not a great fan of movies whose only interest is in a gimmicky plot twist or the whodunnit anyway.[1] I guess one could say that Meat Loaf won't in all likelihood be remembered for his performance in this movie, either---but hey, he may not be a great actor, true, but it was cool to see him on screen, and he did what he could, and two out of three ain't bad!

Madsen does Madsen like he always does, but here it fits the movie like a glove. The cinematography is outstanding; the Director of Photography deserves an Oscar nod for doing what he did on this budget. The music is spotty, one minute it is near greatness, the next minute it seems forced and mis-matched to the tension of the film. Still, the composer did an incredible job considering his budget. He did the whole thing on a Mac, with a MOTU Traveler using samples and a single recording session with strings only. The kind of atmosphere the director (Kyle Dean Jackson) was able to stir up with such a limited budget is remarkable.There isn't a poor performance in the bunch, save one: Corey Large. Large has all the passion of a rice cake. The guy simply cannot emote, which is sad because Shannyn Sossamon gives a tour de force performance opposite someone giving her nothing. I am very interested to see what this young director will do next, because he certainly does have what it takes to make a good movie. Frankly I tend to believe that the writer, producer and (uncredited) second director Alan Pao had a LOT to do with this film's excellence. Here's hoping that we'll see many more good things from both Jackson and Pao in the future.

The film has its merits and is quite an accomplishment for $1 million budget that it had. The story can be slow in parts but overall if you like the intricate puzzle story then you will enjoy this film. It is not a shot em up action movie so don't go in thinking that or you will be disappointed. The acting wanes a little for the young detective but overall the cast is good. Madsen plays a role that seems to peak at his real life antics sometimes. The direction is good considering the budget and limitations of being an indy. There were several times in the film where I forgot I was watching a LOW DOLLAR indy and it felt more like any other studio flick. I read an article that said the film was shot in something like 20 days so for that I am impressed. It is not the best movie this year but if you like old noir films and have a thing for Shannyn Sossamon, it is definitely something to catch. The last 20 minutes are GREAT if you have been attentive enough to follow the story up to that point.Better than most....Not as good as some.