Goodland

Not sure why some reviewers criticized the acting. It was really good. Nice mystery that keeps you guessing. I enjoyed it a lot. The ending was kind of sudden, but after a bit I figured it out.

This movie starts out pretty well and holds your interest all the way through. Good cast, good story, fair dialog, great cinematography. So, kudos for that -- as far as it goes.

However, this is a movie without an ending. It's one of those movies where the writer/director knew what the ending meant, and thought he would be clever "implying" the ending; but he remains the only person alive who knows that the ending means. For everybody else, there wasn't enough information, so now we feel like the whole thing was a waste of time.

Maybe he was setting up a "Part 2" ? But at this rate, it will never be financed. Well, maybe it will, since part 1 probably shouldn't have been financed either, but it was. In any case, I'd love to see an explanation as to what happened. If all he was saying was "The U.S.A. is a crime-ridden hell hole," we didn't need this film to tell us that. Just read the papers.

I just couldn't buy the 16-year-old character being played by a 26 year old woman.

Though the picture offers nothing spectacular, neither does it stumble. Moments of excellent camera work frame a solid story told by skilled players. Entirely believable, suspenseful if not surprising, and - most importantly for this kind of effort - never overdone. I recommend it for a spare hour or so.

This movie actually had stuff going for it. Sure, there were no name actors, some weak acting and ineffective editing. But writer/director Josh Doke built interest and momentum to help you look past that. As you follow along as Doke builds to the story to a roiling crescendo, he thanks you by pulling the rug out.

After abruptly ending, numerous ends were left hanging and you couldn't help feeling ripped off. Thanks Mr Doke for another waste of time and disappointing piece of Hollywood crap.