Downeast

A simple plot executed in a believable manner which makes this movie a worthwhile watch. The characters are gritty and not exaggerated like Hollywood typically does.

A pretty badly acted movie with stupid dialogues. Boring.

This movie tries so hard to pass Portland off as "the Downeast" and fails so miserably that I can't help but laugh. It also seems to think that smuggling and selling heroin is some kind of big mafia-run operation along the coast when in reality that kind of stuff usually either comes across the border from Canada via air drops or up I-95 from points south (mostly Massachusetts and New York). Heroin isn't even that big in the Downeast, they're way more into pills and crystal meth out that way. This movie basically muddles up Lewiston, Bangor, Portland, the concept of lobstermen, and The Departed into some flatlander's idiotic idea of "the Downeast." Also the only actor who can pull off a Maine accent is Kirk Fox, and he's from California.

I grew up around this stuff, but in the Bronx, and it was the Italians. If you had anything to do with their world, you were never free.

This is a little slow -- it seems longer than it is. Yet, it's good. I have one comment. It needed much more Kirk Fox. He steals the movie even though he is used sparingly. I'm going to look for him in other things.

I stayed to the end of this movie, but wished several times to get up and leave. I should have listened to that inner voice. By the end I felt resentful of the 90 minutes I had spent in the film and could have been doing anything else like walking my dog. None of the characters were very well developed in terms of writing or acting. The two romantic leads had very little chemistry between them. And the characters made decisions that were definitely not in their own best interest or in the interest of anyone that they cared about. The whole thing was just a frustrating experience to watch. I gave it two stars only because the sequences on the boat were interesting and well done. I would have liked to have stayed on the ship longer and not venture into the town or any of the other nonsense. It felt unnecessarily violent in many parts and as we left I could hear other people wondering as I was why the main character made the decision he did at the end which seemed to serve no one but the bad guys. I guess I should feel lucky that it was the only one of the many films I saw at the Phoenix film festival this year that was really disappointing. Most were fabulous and I look forward to seeing them get broader releases.