The majority of this movie is, in my opinion, average. The premise is as old as the farm equipment occupying the setting, and Brad Dourif as the kindly older man who takes to Mekhi Phifer's character, Sonny, after Sonny rescues him from a robbery is the only real bright spot. As a longtime fan of Dourif's work, it's always refreshing and gratifying to see him play a warm(er) character instead of a serial killer, wily racist, or out-of-this-world weirdo -- not to take anything away from his portrayal of said archetypes, lol. He really does deserve better offers -- the man is a Golden Globe winner/Oscar nominee/Emmy nominee, for Pete's sake.
Mekhi Phifer, who is usually a fine actor, doesn't fare all that well here with the subpar material. There's so little chemistry between him and Elika Portnoy -- who delivers a sleepy and largely ineffectual performance as the stock "hot wife" character -- that their (ample) sex scenes quickly become uncomfortable to watch. We're supposed care about and root for them, but there's nothing there to get invested in, which is a death knell for stories like this. The cashier, who delivers but a single line to Larissa, gives the second-best performance in the film. That should tell you everything.
Well, almost everything.
The tiny twist 3/4 of the way through is mildly piquing, as is the big twist at the end. To be honest, I was genuinely taken aback and pleased, from a darkly humorous point of view, about where we ended up and why.
The film is such a mixed bag, I don't know if I can safely recommend it or not. It's only 90 minutes, but many of those minutes are not terribly enjoyable. Still, Brad Dourif and the ending make this a touch above average for me -- a 5.5/10. Yet I'm only rating it a 5 overall because it IS a painful slog to get through the middle to get to the halfway decent ending.
