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That was an excellent one.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Movie goers have a sort of fascination with watching less-than-smart people do really stupid thing, exactly what drives film noir and many of the best crime dramas. "The Square," from Australia, certainly fits that reasoning. We watch the bottom drop out of the lives of many different characters destroying each other and themselves, with things going wrong for everyone. Edgerton is brilliantly merciless in moving the story forward, as along the way, we'll encounter blackmail, murder (unintentional and otherwise) and more, some of it brutal, some of it weird. Roberts makes for a most worried-looking protagonist, seemingly wearing each new disaster with a deeper furrow in his brow. Van der Boom is effective at never letting us really know what she's thinking, while Hayes is nicely creepy as the no-good Smithy.

As many people have rightfully pointed out, "The Square" shares more than a few similarities with the Coen Brothers' debut "Blood Simple." Both have a noirish sensibility, both feature mostly unknown actors on a relatively small budget, and the plot of both films is rife with characters, double-crosses, and freakish accidents and fatal misunderstandings that change the lives of everyone forever. Perhaps most importantly, both focus on a protagonist, unhappy with a dead-end situation in his life, but too trepidatious or apathetic to say either yes or no to adultery and larceny. And, as is the case in many of these real-life scenarios, the choice gets made for them who doth not decide, to ill effect.Ray (David Roberts)---interesting, that was the name of John Getz's character in Blood Simple, as well---is a building site manager who's on the take at work, casually dandling his mistress, when she (a fetching Clare Van Der Boom, who looks and acts a bit like a down-under version of Jenna Fisher) offers him a bag a cash her shady husband has been stashing. And from there, things get sticky."The Square" is also a perfect title: Sure, it describes the grid in the center of the construction site, but Ray is the REAL square in this crime drama: the term has been in use for years to mean a sort of decoy in a criminal operation. Sure, Ray's the "good guy" but some damn evil things seem to happen all around, and because, of what he doesn't do or does inadvertently.The film's play on misunderstandings and how perceptions are often erroneously informed makes it always interesting and fun to watch, and the acting is very above board as well. There are many gray characters in this piece, but the ones who are bad are REALLY bad (I'm thinking mostly of Anthony Hayes as Van Der Boom's greaser husband and Bill Hunter as Ray's bad-ass property boss).It will keep you guessing till the end and wanting more. It is often grim, very real, and unforgiving. A little like life.

'THE SQUARE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Intrigued by Harry Knowles (popular film critic for 'Ain't It Cool News') promise that this is "One of the best films of the year. The best film noir since 'BODY HEAT'" (Which is plastered all over the DVD case) I decided to check out this low budget Australian thriller. It's directed by Nash Edgerton and written by his brother Joel, with some help from Matthew Dabner. The Edgerton brothers have a diverse range of film experience from stunts (Nash is well known in Australia for this) to editing to acting (Joel played Owen Lars in 'STAR WARS: EPISODE II' and 'III'). This is the brothers first feature together in which they're writer and director (Joel also has a decent sized acting role in the film). While I don't think it's one of the very best films of the year or the best film noir since 'BODY HEAT' (I sometimes agree with Knowles and sometimes don't) I do think it's a very well made and entertaining film, especially for such a low budget one.Experienced character actor David Roberts stars as Raymond Yale, a construction worker who's become bored with marriage and has started a heated affair with the young hairdresser Carla (played by the beautiful Claire van der Boom) who lives next door. Carla has recently discovered a blood stained bag filled with money hidden in her home by her criminal husband Greg (played by Anthony Hayes). She talks the reluctant Raymond into helping her stealing it by burning down their home and with it the apparent bag of money but things of course don't go as planned. Greg becomes aware that the money wasn't in the house and the two lovers become entangled in much bigger crimes as things get worse and worse.The film takes one depressing twist after another and the hero digs himself even deeper and deeper into trouble which leaves the viewer kind of mad. In a lot of film noir this is the point but in this film the events that take place are so ridiculously over the top and unbelievable that the film doesn't quite work on the level it should. It's still a beautifully moody and well acted film and like I said impressive for such a low budget one. Despite the film's fall from reality I still found myself wrapped up in the characters and really wanted things to work out for them. Be warned this movie is pretty gloomy and depressing but due to it's mild foray into campy-ness it's also darkly comedic. Not a great film but a well made and memorable one all the same.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8w-4xZ94ZU

"The Square" opens with two parked cars at a scenic overlook. In one of them, two agitated dogs observe the other vehicle where their respective owners, Ray and Carla, are engaging in some steamy extra-marital gymnastics. When Carla returns home from her tryst, she spots her rough diamond husband surreptitiously hiding a bag of cash in the ceiling of their washroom, whereupon she conceives the idea to steal the money and run off with her paramour to begin a new life together. Construction site manager Ray declines to go along with her scheme at first, anticipating a boatload of trouble fouling up his sweet kickback scam at work, but Carla's alluring charms soon prove too strong a temptation. The lovers hire themselves a dubious partner, lash together a leaky plan and set it in motion, only to meet with a firestorm of foul-ups, suspicion and terror."The Square" shares many themes and motifs with "Body Heat" and "Blood Simple". The chief differences are its gritty realism and fast pacing - and it also boasts an extensive cast of support roles that provide a bewildering array of possibilities for misunderstandings and betrayal among the various conspirators, victims and bystanders as their lives spiral out of control. By the time the dust has cleared at the conclusion, one begins to wonder if the phrase 'ratcheting up the tension' might not have been coined for this film. Nash Edgerton directs his brother Joel's tight script with verve, and extracts intense and believable performances from his actors. It all adds up to an impressive modern Indie film noir.