Why did Mike kill his father? Did Mike actually do it? Who else would have killed Mike's father? And why was Mike's father killed? All questions that permeate this courtroom drama. It's actually a pretty decent little film. It's pretty much all set in the courtroom as evidence is offered (and as flashbacks portraying the evidence being offered.) Mike (Gabriel Basso) is a 17 year old accused of murdering his father. He isn't being very helpful to his defence lawyer (Keanu Reeves) because he refuses to say a word to explain what really happened. As the trial progresses we learn that Mike's father (played in the flashbacks by Jim Belushi) wasn't a very nice man - verbally and possibly physically abusive to his wife and Mike's mother (Renee Zellweger) and possibly abusive toward Mike as well. There are reasons to suspect Mike, and there are reasons to suspect others. There's really no way to know how it's all going to turn out in the end.
I wouldn't call this a suspense type movie or a thriller. It was too low key for that. Although it's a fairly short movie (a runtime of a little over an hour and a half) it still has a fairly slow build up to the story - but in this case, "slow" does not mean "uninteresting." It didn't have me on the edge of my seat, but it did keep me watching. In the end I thought it went a little bit too awkwardly from a low key and slow build up into several twists and turns that suddenly had your head spinning. That change of pace was too abrupt for my liking.
Overall, though, that didn't change my appreciation of the movie. It's pretty well done - and a good, well constructed "whodunit" is always satisfying. (7/10)
I wouldn't call this a suspense type movie or a thriller. It was too low key for that. Although it's a fairly short movie (a runtime of a little over an hour and a half) it still has a fairly slow build up to the story - but in this case, "slow" does not mean "uninteresting." It didn't have me on the edge of my seat, but it did keep me watching. In the end I thought it went a little bit too awkwardly from a low key and slow build up into several twists and turns that suddenly had your head spinning. That change of pace was too abrupt for my liking.
Overall, though, that didn't change my appreciation of the movie. It's pretty well done - and a good, well constructed "whodunit" is always satisfying. (7/10)