Meskada

the nuances are key of this movie. nuances of feelings, search, truth, love. a small town and its secret. a murder. a mother. a detective. few families. and a business who must save the town. memories of lost time and dimensions of guilty. a film about roots of gestures, skin of expectation and need of sense. ingredients - fear, errors, sins. axis - two young men and their need of escape. a good film in a strange kind. Nick Stahl in an interesting role and a cast without glorious names. a meditation about rules and solutions. and an end as Dostoievsky drop. mercy and wise. image behind ordinary reality. answer for self questions and image of good/bad far from each classical formula.

Meskada, or Quiet Kill as it was renamed for distribution (a rose by any other name) is a slow burning, blistering small town murder thriller that ratchets up the tension and sneaks up on you as the calamitous events unfolding reach a fever pitch of sickening human mistakes, inevitable depravity and broken, dead end people doing their best with the intellects they've been given, and the not always great life choices they make with them. Nick Stahl nicely underplays the lead investigator of a home invasion that left a little boy murdered, which takes him a few towns over to the other side of the state, namely Meskada County. Jonathan Tucker and Kellan Lutz play the burglars, torn between fear and guilt. Tucker, fantastic as always, relishes in his backwoods deadbeat role, equal parts dumbbell sleaze and ferocious caged animal kamikaze terror. Lutz, who really can't act his way out of his own nut sack, wisely keeps his head down and doesn't shake up the otherwise talented roster too badly. Rachel Nichols plays Stahl's partner with the right gusto. James Mccaffrey, known for voicing Max Payne, is awesome as a bar owner and outspoken town representative whose righteous anger clashes with Stahl's dogged need to uncover the truth at whatever large scale collateral damage. The best performance of the film comes from a brooding, volatile Norman Reedus, playing a jaded, bitter man who is just looking for an event to use as an outlet for a self inflicted downward spiral of depression and anger. Reedus is a ridiculously talented guy and he really gets the chance to shine here, using his narrow eyed, scruffy emotional edge to great advantage. The town is also going through an economic crisis that is only exacerbated by this murder investigation, creating all the more tension for the film to work with. It's sad that nobody checks out these fantastic indie gems that slip under the radar, and this one is especially worth checking out. It's a fiery yet restrained small town murder yarn that plays almost like a Russian tragedy, where even though you know from the gate that it isn't going anywhere nice, it's going to be beautiful to experience. Downbeat films may not make us feel good, but they often change us or let us see a different side of human nature that is very beneficial. This one is a perfect example of that. Dark, dreary and stressful, but with vital signs still kicking at an essential, unavoidable set of flaws in humans that needs to be explored.

Threads of the past weave through this interesting film about small town folks and their loyalties to each other when it comes to intervention from the outside - even to the defense of homicide. Josh Sternfeld wrote and directed this little thriller with a small cast of young actors who may just be more noticed after this dramatic effort.

Two boys - Eddie Arlinger (Kellan Lutz) and Shane Loakin (Jonathan Tucker) - drifters who go on the road to rob houses and sell their goods to pawn shops through their relationship with a bar girl (Grace Gummer, another of Meryl Streep's daughters) - accidentally kill a little boy during a robbery in Hilliard. The boy happens to be the son of a Meskada County Commissioner ( Laura Benati). Young small town detective Noah Cordin (Nick Stahl) and his new partner Leslie Spencer (Rachel Nichols) are brought in to solve the crime despite the fact that the town sheriff (Michael Sirow) and cohort (Michael Cerveris) think they can handle the matter themselves: much of the clash is bringing in an outside detective who grew up in a poor small town not far from Hilliard, viewed as interference. The local Bar owner Billy (James McCaffrey) and Shane's brother-in-law Dennis (Norman Reedus) fight to protect Eddie and Shane, but events occur that reveal the true identity of the killer after a showdown between the out of town detective and the townsfolk that come to grips with a situation no one wants to explore.

While the story leaves some gaping holes unresolved, the script does manage to capture the small town loyalties that often avoid reality. Adding the aspect of how the national economy is affecting the livelihood of small town residents heightens the tension. The young cast is very fine, especially the key performance by Jonathan Tucker. Heartthrob Kellan Lutz and Grace Gummer provide the sensual interest and Nick Stahl continues to impress as an actor on the ascent. Newcomer Michael Sirow is an actor to watch as is Grace Gummer. In all this is an entertaining film that has the courage to not 'make nice' the unsettling problems of backwoods small town ethics.

Grady Harp

This movie is slow and boring. The acting is even worse. Just horrible!

Don't let my title stop you from watching this movie. It's actually a rather gripping and sad story of a murder and the detectives plight in trying to investigate the case.

My problem with the movie is that it gets a bit thin in spots and you might lose interest in just where the story is going. Some of the dialog seems forced as do some of the action scenes.

The strongest part is the town hall meeting with the heated debate and opinions that stir the plot of this story.

Unfortunately the story ends with loose ends and I when it was over my first thought was .. "thats it?".