Restraining Order

RO is one of those movies which entertained much more than I thought it would. A great dramatic situation thriller which pitts hot show defendant Roberts, up against some real scum. When I saw this movie was directed by the same guy who made A Murder Of Crows, which I haven't seen, but have seen the trailer, funnily enough when watching this, I thought a lot about that movie, running much similar lines to this. RO is pacy and engaging, and Roberts is always an actor attention grabber. His life has become a nightmare after witnessing up close and personal, a client/mobster he has just got off, a James Russo looking guy, slay a aging friend, who owes gambling debts. As if to really reiterate to Roberts, a few times, the consequences of turning him in, and really making himself heard, Roberts fights back, and things really become personal. This is a well formulated thriller with good performances. A real slick thriller surprise moment near the end, I much appreciated, RO is wonderful thriller entertainment, which warrants unrestrained viewing.

I really wanted to like this movie but it was so boring that not even my favorite actor of all time can't save it! It's really nothing to talk about but a crappy plot and very unrealalistic characters. I mean it was that bad. Just try to rent something else. Eric Roberts is still a great actor but rent other choices from Eric's video library. Out of 4 stars I give it 1 star. Eric Roberts RULES! though...

This is a lawyer/mob flick, and the only name among the main players is Eric Roberts, who is rather sappy. It's like a TV movie, has a pretty good plot, but the acting is not great. Not much suspense, sort of like Random Encounter in quality. Not really worth the rental bucks.

-Bob

Stiff acting and sappy acting. Slow story...action too canned. Really weak premise. Almost insults your intelligence. Right at the beginning the killer exposes himself so the lawyer can identify him and then the rest of the movie the killer spends trying to frame people, and force the attorney not to be a witness...really stupid.

The frame up seems far fetched and it would seem to be too unbelievable in real life that anyone would believe it. The mob must have had the whole town on the payroll. There'd be no reason for any of the movie if the whole premise wasn't so stupid. Boring...waste of time. Don't even bother to rent this yawner. However, if you waste your time on this...watch the facial expressions of the extras and minor characters when they are breifly shown...strange eye movements, wierd stiff facial expressions. It's almost as though they look bored, out of place, or like they are lifeless and trying to stay awake.

The plot of "Restraining Order" is very straight forward, and in a peculiar way reminds me of any number of B grade westerns. It's easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. There is a land grab motive being exploited by the mafia, instead of the railroad barons. There are plenty of frame ups, and of course Eric Roberts gets to single handed take the law in his own hands and save the day. The only thing missing is his horse. "Restraining Order" is no better or worse than a lot of other Eric Roberts low budget films. It has plenty of action and should please his fans. ........................................................ - MERK