Meskada

Although at times, the movie got a little slow, I really enjoyed it. I really liked the story line. All in all, a movie that I will watch again, and try to find for sale to add to my collection. Doesn't hurt that my all time favorite actor is in it. (Norman Reedus)

Quite frankly, I did not expect much of this film, particularly after I saw a score of 5.0 on IMDb.

Throughout the film you keep asking yourself "where is this going to" and each time, as the film goes on, you get more of a surprise and the tension increases a notch.

Throughout the film I kept thinking "Winter's Bone". This film reminds me a lot of "Winter's Bone", and they were both made in 2010, but at the same time this film is quite different, but still about small town and small community secrets all the same.

The acting is top class, and the direction flawless. No film stars on show but they're not needed - this is top class entertainment from little known actors (not for long) and it is top direction too.

Watch it - you won't regret it.

Threads of the past weave through this interesting film about small town folks and their loyalties to each other when it comes to intervention from the outside - even to the defense of homicide. Josh Sternfeld wrote and directed this little thriller with a small cast of young actors who may just be more noticed after this dramatic effort.

Two boys - Eddie Arlinger (Kellan Lutz) and Shane Loakin (Jonathan Tucker) - drifters who go on the road to rob houses and sell their goods to pawn shops through their relationship with a bar girl (Grace Gummer, another of Meryl Streep's daughters) - accidentally kill a little boy during a robbery in Hilliard. The boy happens to be the son of a Meskada County Commissioner ( Laura Benati). Young small town detective Noah Cordin (Nick Stahl) and his new partner Leslie Spencer (Rachel Nichols) are brought in to solve the crime despite the fact that the town sheriff (Michael Sirow) and cohort (Michael Cerveris) think they can handle the matter themselves: much of the clash is bringing in an outside detective who grew up in a poor small town not far from Hilliard, viewed as interference. The local Bar owner Billy (James McCaffrey) and Shane's brother-in-law Dennis (Norman Reedus) fight to protect Eddie and Shane, but events occur that reveal the true identity of the killer after a showdown between the out of town detective and the townsfolk that come to grips with a situation no one wants to explore.

While the story leaves some gaping holes unresolved, the script does manage to capture the small town loyalties that often avoid reality. Adding the aspect of how the national economy is affecting the livelihood of small town residents heightens the tension. The young cast is very fine, especially the key performance by Jonathan Tucker. Heartthrob Kellan Lutz and Grace Gummer provide the sensual interest and Nick Stahl continues to impress as an actor on the ascent. Newcomer Michael Sirow is an actor to watch as is Grace Gummer. In all this is an entertaining film that has the courage to not 'make nice' the unsettling problems of backwoods small town ethics.

Grady Harp

Don't let my title stop you from watching this movie. It's actually a rather gripping and sad story of a murder and the detectives plight in trying to investigate the case.

My problem with the movie is that it gets a bit thin in spots and you might lose interest in just where the story is going. Some of the dialog seems forced as do some of the action scenes.

The strongest part is the town hall meeting with the heated debate and opinions that stir the plot of this story.

Unfortunately the story ends with loose ends and I when it was over my first thought was .. "thats it?".

The reason i give it a 8 is because i liked the movie and i think it is worth watching.. i really like how the ending was, although some people don't like open ended endings but when i watch a movie i want it to be like "real" and life isn't perfect not all things happen like they're supposed to, so watch it! i think you will like it....and if you don't? you can write a review..

I don't want to give the story away but basically a little boy gets murdered. At first, your thinking is it the mother? Is it the father?

The main character is the guy who did terminator 3. Not the young kid..the dude that was cast beside Claire Daines. Yeah him, but he did a good job i thought. A little to laid back at times but i guess thats him. This was a good role, so it didn't matter who played it. His partner was new to me, she kinda looked like a young Jodi Foster, pretty cute, she also did a good job acting. Well, its their job to find suspects in a clueless murder scene, which is a tough task to begin with and with their good wits they get on the right track and begin to figure things out, but you know it ain't easy dealing with small town citizens....especially these...they're town is victim to this bad economy and it seems if they aren't gonna get help they are in no mood to help these pushy detectives.