Preston Tylk

This movie started out better and then it seemed to just go around in circles. I do not consider this movie a thriller. I lost interest and hour and just wanted it to end.

Pick this movie up for its content, plot, and up and coming stars. Pretend this movie is "Fugitive" for people who think Harrison Ford is, justifiably so, too old.

Luke Wilson portrays the angst-ridden, quasi-loser, nice-guy-finishes-second last in a way only he can. He is the victim of a boring, cheating wife, a slice d' la ass in Mili Avital, who detaches from the marriage for Norman Reedus, the Prada model turned unwashed actor. Norman really takes the movie cinematography to a new level with his brilliant and piercing blue eyes - boring down on real or imagined foes with great alacrity and recompence.

The man for whom Oscar's are no stranger, a thespian in every sense of the word, none other than Dennis Farina - the shrewd and wise Miami cop turned private eye in Seattle. Dennis may have been strong in Saving Private Ryan and Get Shorty, but dominates this movie with his composure and sleuth skills.

Even the extras are true to life. During one particular scene when the chase begins, Wilson is seen eating in a low end diner. Stereotypically, the cook looks like a bitter old cook, the Seattle locals look grungy and flannel-clad, and the policeman looks like an FBI agent.

Overall, a strong recommendation for a Friday night at home. You won't be dissapointed with the chase, plot, and eventual outcome.

Others have suggested that the viewer not compare the direction of this movie to Alfred Hitchcock. However, the director selectively inserts H. Into this film in a very odd fashion. Strains of Bernard Hermann (Scottie/Vertigo) occasionally rise up. Our hero is occasionally presented as if he were a Hitchcock character, struggling with internal demons. As a result, I found myself imagining what the movie could have been if it had openly embraced Hitchcock.

Another movie that makes you nostalgic for the studio system. In a former era Mr. Bokencamp would have been assigned a film like this, struggled to put his stamp on it and come away with, if not a great film, at least a journeyman's knowledge of how a film works. So called independent films like this one, and there seem to be plenty of them, have no particular vision, say nothing that couldn't have been said by a studio hack and strive awkwardly to transcend their genres, revealing only the callowness of their creators. To be sure, Mr. Bokencamp is thwarted by his lead who was not up to the demands of this role but appealing as his relationship with the detective might have been had Mr. Wilson been capable of bringing it off, it really has no place in film noir anyway. If you soft boil this genre it turns to mush.

This movie is about obsession, salvation and finally redemption. A loving but absent husband,(Luke Wilson) is told by his wife that she is having and affair,leaves to think things out only to return and discover his wife is dead. He is now the main suspect and needs to find the real killer. In his journey of exploration,hires the private dick, Dick, excellently portrayed by the awesome Dennis Farina. The lover engages the husband in an intricate cat and mouse game that ultimately comes to a shocking discovery. But mostly this film is about normal people when put under pressure do just about anything and think it is reasonable at the time. What makes this one different is that when all is said and done one man makes a choice that will change his life forever.