The Devil's in the Details

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Since returning from a tour of duty, soldier Thomas Conrad (Joel Mathews) has had problems with drugs and struggling with demons, and has been sent to Dr. Robert Michaels (Ray Liotta) for assessment. He ends up regaling a story about a fender bender with a Mexican man, Bill Duffy (Emilio Rivera) which lead to him being forced to talk his father, his sister and a rival drug cartel into going along with a plan engineered by the ruthless Duffy.

I never got into it myself, but it seems the popular show 24 has spawned a lot of amateurish, tiresome wannabe imitations, that try and be all hip and cool with constant displays of the time at the bottom of the screen and telling the story in reverse, that are spoiling the enjoyment of a lot of modern film. The Devil's in the Details would be one such example, really just a total mess of a film that had potential in the script, but just made a total jumble of everything.

The cast try and make the best of the material, with Mathews giving it all an energy and gusto that it really doesn't deserve, and a unfazed Liotta all grey, and as dynamic and forceful as ever, but it all amounts to nothing, a totally forgettable, disposable nothing. **

I probably couldn't find enough adjectives to express how awful this film is, one of the worst I've ever seen. Filled with torture and sadism, as well as incredibly muddled plot elements and flashbacks, I would say it's an insult to anyone's intelligence.

Joel Mathews portrays Thomas Conrad, a post traumatic stress disorder patient, being seen by Dr. Robert Michaels (Ray Liotta), a military psychiatrist. After a minor fender bender with a man named Bill (Emilio Rivera), Thomas is told no harm done, and invited to a local bar for a drink.

The next thing he knows he's tied to the ceiling and being tortured by Bill and his cohorts, who let him hear on the cell that his wife and daughter have been kidnapped and held hostage. Unless Thomas can get his father (a judge), his sister (a cop), and his brother (a border patrol officer) to cooperate in a crazy scheme involving robbing a dangerous Mexican drug cartel, they'll all be killed.

Pretty much the entire movie is Thomas being tortured as he tries to convince his family to cooperate with his captors. By the time the "big" surprise ending comes, I couldn't have cared less and felt I need to take a shower to get this drek off of me.

What a waste of time to watch this terrible movie. It would really make you sick. I watched this on the Netflix, but after this experience I will really hesitate to watch anything on Netflix. Never ever should anybody anytime anymore allow Waymon Boone to direct a movie in his lifetime. It's a huge mess, chaotic and nothing makes sense. The characters are idiotic and looks like idiots, acting dumb and nothing is believable. Bad acting with irritating music. The story is just simple awkward, I felt like I'm in the twilight zone. Very disappointing experience!So much booboo is coming out from Hollywood. What a waste of time to watch this terrible movie. It would really make you sick. I watched this on the Netflix, but after this experience I will really hesitate to watch anything on Netflix. Never ever should anybody anytime anymore allow Waymon Boone to direct a movie in his lifetime. It's a huge mess, chaotic and nothing makes sense. The characters are idiotic and looks like idiots, acting dumb and nothing is believable. Bad acting with irritating music. The story is just simple awkward, I felt like I'm in the twilight zone. Very disappointing experience!So much booboo is coming out from Hollywood.

I was enjoying the story, the off-screen (and on screen) violence and action was gripping, the inter-weaved story and back story threads were engaging, building to an interesting climax...and then suddenly, nothing. Its like they ran out of film, money, time, patience, interest or all of the above. I can't believe they would have made this movie if this is a fair reflection of the screenplay. Disappointed, and puzzled.

why need 10 lines for a review?

Still disappointed, and puzzled.

I think my review is a valid review. Why should it be a minimum of 10 lines. Why force me to pad it...If this doesn't get accepted, I'll scrap it, and won't bother offering reviews in future.

"We're here to identify your moments. Your moments and events that lead you here into this room." After serving his country in a brutal tour Thomas Conrad is having a hard time adjusting to "normal" life. He is sent to see someone (Liotta) who will help him adjust. While there he begins to explore the problems he has had with his family as well as recalling his meeting with a drug cartel enforcer (Rivera) that changed his life forever. Going in I was expecting the normal B-action movie type plot and idea. I have to admit that this was actually not as bad as I was expecting and actually kept me watching and interested. The movie is pretty suspenseful even though the movie is pretty much played out in a way that you imagine all the action. Thtoughout the movie you see Thomas being tortured and talking to his family trying to save everyone but not the actual action, to me that is really a neat idea and adds to the enjoyment. I won't say it's exactly like reading a book, but it's close. If you like suspense and have a good imagination then this is a movie you will enjoy. Overall, an original type of action movie with a very interesting presentation. I liked it. I give it a B+.