This film should have been good. It has a potentially great plot, and the first few scenes are very good. Then, it simply falls apart, and the main plot is basically ignored for much of the remainder of the movie. I also found the ending to be somewhat disappointing, although it was nice to see the focus back on the central storyline. The acting was certainly good, as you would expect in a Jack Nicholson movie, but the real tragedy is that David Morse was absolutely wasted. He was outstanding, but he rarely had anything to work with. What a disappointment.

with such a good cast, I was shocked I had not heard of this movie. But after watching it, now I understand. It was a pretty good idea for a movie, but not executed very well. I just felt like Sean Penn had all these great ideas and grand schemes for an intense movie. But instead of focusing in on one solid motif, he threw too many concepts and character issues into the mix. The entire stripper / sexual sub plot with Jack could have been completely left out. There was not a lot of depth behind the acting, it was just kinda there.

Like I mentioned, the plot line kinda skated on the surface of being deep. Nothing about the movie really touched me. Especially considering I lost a family member in a similar way, I thought I would be crying my heart out. But honestly I found it barely entertaining. But if nothing is on TV and the internet isn't working, I suggest watching it.