The Devil's in the Details

The Devil's In The Details is an independent action/thriller that has some really good parts. One of my favorites is Ray Liotta. I have been a fan of his since his Goodfellas days and I have seen pretty much everything he's been in since. So it was nice to see him in this.

Liotta plays a military psychiatrist who is seeing Thomas Conrad (played by Joel Mathews) who is suffering from PTSD. So Conrad gets in an accident with this guy and all seems okay. But then the drama gets cranked up to eleven and all hell breaks loose.

Conrad is forced to get members of his family who work in law enforcement to help out a drug cartel. The plot gets a little convoluted but director Waymon Boone keeps the film moving forward at a nice clip. He does a good job of building tension and had a vision for this film that really came out in the finished product.

The story jumps around a bit with some flashbacks so you need to pay attention. But the pace of the film helps build tension and has you anticipating the next plot point.

As I have said this is an independent film so it didn't have a large budget. However, the cast and crew do a lot with what they have. I really liked this film and not just because of Ray Liotta. Overall, it was a good action/thriller with some nice plot twists and solid performances.

Terribly mixed performances...veteran actors allow neophyte protagonist to live long enough to kill any interest here. Glaring differences between portrayal skills. Non-stop panning camera shot in warehouse dungeon becomes wearying, script simply contrived, no real conversation or exchanges, just uttered lines. Blooper city. Not even laughable. This movie makes good actors Emilio Rivera and Ray Liotta look bad, and after an hour of viewing this disaster it's downright embarrassing, like watching a champion boxer take a dive. I had to turn it off. I don't care what the ending is. You're a better man than me if you finish watching this one.

"We're here to identify your moments. Your moments and events that lead you here into this room." After serving his country in a brutal tour Thomas Conrad is having a hard time adjusting to "normal" life. He is sent to see someone (Liotta) who will help him adjust. While there he begins to explore the problems he has had with his family as well as recalling his meeting with a drug cartel enforcer (Rivera) that changed his life forever. Going in I was expecting the normal B-action movie type plot and idea. I have to admit that this was actually not as bad as I was expecting and actually kept me watching and interested. The movie is pretty suspenseful even though the movie is pretty much played out in a way that you imagine all the action. Thtoughout the movie you see Thomas being tortured and talking to his family trying to save everyone but not the actual action, to me that is really a neat idea and adds to the enjoyment. I won't say it's exactly like reading a book, but it's close. If you like suspense and have a good imagination then this is a movie you will enjoy. Overall, an original type of action movie with a very interesting presentation. I liked it. I give it a B+.

It took me about 5 months to make it to the end of this movie(honest), if YOU make it to the end you'll have a big question mark over your head regarding what happened to certain characters, how and why. Matthew's lines are oddly delivered, Liotta and Rivera do good performances, this movie has good elements of suspense and it works well as a thriller until you get to the end and wonder what happened to the last 20 minutes, it genuinely seems like the filmmakers ran out of money, or time renting the set, cameras, or something and just said "cut" and decided to roll the credits. much is left unresolved or unanswered and an ending that makes no sense when considering the rest of the film. Honestly Riveras performance raised this film from a 1 to a 4 for me,

I give Ray Liotta thumbs up for letting his hair go gray, and that's the only positive thing I can say about this one. Poor acting, choppy direction, dizzy camera work, weak plot, uninteresting characters. I cannot tell you how it ends because I FF'ed through a lot of it, and don't care. The lead actor in this seems to mug a lot and is more concerned with his looks then how he can make the stultifying dialog come to life. The interspersed scenes from one time frame to the next is a half way decent ploy in a good movie, but it's not working here. Nice to see some actors are still working though. I always wonder how can I care of feel empathy for any character in a movie, and in this movie I'm still wondering.