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Somewhat underrated, if derivative, this first time Directorial effort from the slightly off-center Actor, who will, for at least the foreseeable future be associated with the extremely popular TV Series 24, is a not that bad Crime/Road Movie.

There are some glaring ineffectiveness here and there, mostly coming from the badly written Pulpy Dialog. Some of the Pop Culture references and the extended talky Scenes come off as embarrassing rather than insightful. The "Stockholm Syndrome" element is also played out with some unbelievable and forced developments.

But there are some interesting Characters, the least of which is the DEA infiltrator overacted and annoying, that are engaging enough. The Violence is gritty if over stylized, and is attractive Action Movie stuff with guns blazing and squibs squibbing.

Another weakness is the God-Awful Music, from the sappy slow Ballads to the Road Music, it is badly selected and intrusive. Overall though, this delivers enough Gangster stuff to be Entertaining and should have a more accepting approval than it does from Critics and intolerable nit-pickers.

Although derivitative of Tarantino and especially of Carl Franklin's "One False Move," Kiefer Sutherland's directorial debut is quite self-assured. Kevin Pollak's character as a hostage who is strangely drawn to the lifestyle of his captors is terrific despite his formulaic "coming-around" at the end. Mykelti Williamson and Grace Phillips as Pollak's girlfriend are both revelations. Vincent Gallo is an unusual actor and definitely an acquired taste, but he works well here with Kim Dickens as his Bonnie. In all, a film you'll be pleasantly surprised with as a bargain rental.

Neat little thriller about a group of ex cons who while ripping off a drug dealer accidentally kill an undercover cop, forcing them to take to the road. They head for Las Vegas to sell the stolen drugs taking along with them a couple as hostages as they are pursued by both the cops, and the drug dealers associates, who are not best pleased with what they have done. The film moves at a reasonable pace and the acting is good, especially from leads, Gallo, Williamson and an evil Kiefer Sutherland, who clearly enjoys his role as the psychotic Curtis. It's just a shame that the plot seems to run out of steam for the last 20 or so minutes but it does come together again for an exciting finale. Well worth checking out. Sutherland also directed.

Much-maligned Keifer Sutherland's career has taken a relative nose-dive since the heady days of his Brat-pack success in Lost Boys and Young Guns. But, here he proves to be a surprise hit behind the camera, co-starring in and directing this well paced and exciting outlaw drama. Brad Mirman's plot keeps the action moving, presents twists at every corner and establishes engaging characters. The real key is both Sutherland's own frenetic performance, his directing style and the chemistry between Kim Dickens and the superb Vincent Gallo. A rare treat, with characters you can root for from the very start. Has a great little soundtrack too!

Not a bad effort from Kiefer Sutherland on his directorial debut. This little crime caper is fairly derivative of recent Tarantino films, with the discussion of the quarter looking somewhat out of place, Tarantino could have pulled something like that off with snappier dialogue but it just didn't work. Overall though it's a nice little film with some decent action and some cool lines and a nice black convertible car though as is often the case with these little crime capers the ending is pretty weak and predictable. Vincent Gallo put in another decent performance as did Kim Dickens, who you can see more of in a better film that this, The Zero Effect. Also of note was the incredibly pretty Grace Phillips as Donna, she puts in a good performance as the shocked wife of Raymond. The idea of Raymond sympathising/envying the criminals was an interesting one, though I found the transformation to be less than credible. Overall this was a nice action film and you can do a lot worse.