Thumper

There were some aspects of this film that I thought were really interesting and showed glimpses of brilliance but in the end they were often unexplored. The character development itself was my biggest complaint. The main character's family struggle really just doesn't feel invested enough. The thin line between law and criminality, again, glimpses are shown but don't really emphasize but more lightly tread. The law enforcement pressure on their own, and later the circumstances surrounding the characters who are involved in crime was almost frustrating to watch because you are given a tease of how that could have been a major breakthrough, but to no avail.

I will say that the setting, characters, and a few individual performances really kept me interested. The guy who played Wyatt ("pornstache") was sort of another level, and he really sold the performance. The main character seemed awkward in the beginning but that (to my surprise) is resolved later on.

Overall I'd put this at around 6.5, nothing groundbreaking but some people with a niche for this subject will enjoy it.

Caught this on Netflix, I thought it started well and drew you into a story about teens, using and buying and selling drugs. Pablo Schreiber jumps off the screen, he does an excellent job and was perfectly cast, showing the corrupted raw instincts of a military veteran gone bad. The story is ultimately one that has been told many times but is a good tense gritty crime drama. Without giving away spoilers I can't go into the plot but think of a combination of 8 Mile and Breaking Bad. Every character was desperate in their own way in a tightly woven story.

I hate to say it but I think the weak spot was Eliza Taylor who is not up to the challenge of carrying the film and was a bit too soft for the part. I was surprised to see Lena Headey and it took me a minute to recognize her, she did a wonderful job as Eliza's boss. The best part of the film was the middle and the end did not live up to the tension, but overall worth watching.

I thought that the movie was interesting and amusing and entertaining and it kept me in suspense as to what would happen until there became some notion that nothing bad will happen and it sort of fell flat around 6/10 or 7/10 into the film. I liked the performances by Troy and the drug dealer. Beaver was a bit of a bore and I found that he did not act much at all just sort of behaved normally as any other day and so did the girl. So it was supposed to feel real like that film 'Kids' but their two performances just made it feel pretentious. Well, the decision of the woman in the film was far from realistic, and none of this would occur at such a level. I am angry that we did not get more of the drug dealer's story and Troy's story, as they are the only two who were interesting people and felt real. The others were forgettable and fake. Especially how she is a terrible cop who in no real way did any justice to the reality of tough, mature, and wise women who engage in such life and death behavior. It seemed to me like she was too sheltered to do this role and should stick to some sitcoms like Fuller House. But yeah, the guy who plays the Drug Dealer and his cousin Troy are good characters and actors and they made this film interesting. Some of the scenes were dragging on with the relationship between the two and the stereotypes were all there for every person built into a sort of dumb script but Sheiber and Grant did their part to perform in an adverse scenario. This writer needs to make a point and stick to it and focus on the strengths and drop the dead weight.

Surprised to see so many good actors participating in this halfway thought through film. Writing is bad, directing pretentious, felt like a film school student film. Gave it 6 as a kudos for being able to involve good actors into this bad film.

I started watching this with little expectation as the plot has all been done before, however as soon as you get a tour through the seedy meth lab in the LA area that feels light years from Disneyland it felt very real. It wasn't until I read about the cast afterwards on IMDB that it all made sense? they are not just from the U.S but from Canada, Australia, Wales, Bermuda - that is what makes this movie separate itself from the rest as they are unknowingly bringing other dimensions to a film that has been done many times before. This movie is worth visiting, not just to see life on the other side of the tracks but to admire the great acting that this group deliver.