Una promessa mantenuta

I wasn't expecting much, chose this to have on while I did some ironing, something to half watch.

I turned it off about 10 minutes in. Amateur hour acting and script.

Doesn't work for ironing, might work for gardening, if you get my meaning ...

I generally like to watch independent films as opposed to the big Hollywood productions especially when a subject tends to be controversial. I was generally dissatisfied with this movie and it isn't to do with just one thing but several things which niggle at the back of my mind. The plot could have been the basis of a really good story, working policeman investigating missing children finds himself emotionally involved when his wife is shot to prevent his daughter being snatched, but the story rapidly settles into a tried and tested formula and inconsistencies creep in such as if you are going to shoot a woman you aren't going to leave the daughter behind if she was your goal. I'm not sure if it was the way the film was edited but there were continuity problems, perhaps it was felt that the film had to be shorter but sometimes I felt that I had missed something somewhere like missing a page of a book. I guessed who the assassin was but there was no reason why the child snatcher became what he was. Perhaps I demand too much it was a good effort on a difficult subject but better direction and editing would have made a the storyline better

"A Promise Kept" deals with the subject of vigilantism (and another subject which you'll have to see for yourself). However, unlike most movies the scenes are well handled and tastefully done, and some scenes have very little (if any) dialogue - I found that to be refreshing because most American films tend to have the characters explain EVERY SINGLE emotion or thought, and some scenes just don't need words.

The fight scenes looked a bit choppy to me - perhaps they were edited too much (being a student of the martial arts I admit I'm a little biased in that area). I recommend that people check it out and decide for themselves.

The highest ranking member is a 7th Degree black which happens to be one stripe more than the star Jeff Speakman. The 7th Degree black belts name is Sr. Professor Brian Duffy and he has a school in Austin for the last 31 years. The Black belt across from him is one of his few ( 12 to date ).The other Black belts in the line are also school owners from San Antonio ,North Austin and Dallas.One of the body double for Mimi rogers during martial arts scenes was Mr. Duffy's daughter , Angela . As for the movie I thought it was a good idea but not quite all there. Without saying too much because I think its a movie that has merit , I was disturbed and am still disturbed when certain kids songs are played which to me means the movie really touched me on some level. Chilling choice of kids songs..

Man, talk about a lot of emotional stuff going on! Wow! What with all of the child predators and related things in the news today, this movie, even though it was made 4 years ago, really hits home and hits in the gut. Sean Patrick Flannery does a fine job in portraying a cop who is torn between doing his job and letting a vigilante "finish the job" plus personal problems on top of that. A little bloody for me at times but a well done indie movie. It was good to see Mimi Rogers in such a powerful role. And glad to see Joey Lauren Adams on film again. She makes it believable that her character has to overcome past problems and current anti-female cop male officers in order to prove herself capable of doing her job.