by JG Hanks
Staff
Review originally written on November 13, 2008.
Like most, this movie caught my eye when I was looking through New Releases on Netflix and I figured I would take a chance. Brian Cox and Robert Englund in one movie can’t be that bad, can it? Amanda Plummer is in it as a nut job, go figure. Throw in Tom Sizemore, who always plays douchebags, and you have a pretty good cast. I didn’t know it at the time, but the film is based on a novel by Jack Ketchum. My wife really likes him so she was happy to see his name involved. I silently hoped it would be better than some of the things I have watched that were based on his novels. Lucky McKee of May fame directs.
I knew beforehand the movie would have a scene involving animal cruelty (which if anyone knows me at all, would know isn’t something I easily deal with). Give me horror dudes all day long, but hurt a kitten, come on…tears. The movie was paced well and the acting was adequate. I just kept waiting for Brian Cox to kick some real ass Manhunter style. He eventually did somewhat but I was left unfulfilled, which was probably the director’s intentions all along. You can’t really be happy and cheer for what takes place because it involves emotions and choices that not everyone would see as realistic. I guess I expected more of a horror film than a very true to life depiction of a man pushed over the edge after being left to feel helpless by those who should just man up and do the right thing. It was good. Follow the link for the synopsis.
Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) is a man who has lived his life and all he has left is his store, his house and his dog, Red. On a rare day off, he decides to relax and go fishing at the local pond. While there, he is confronted by three hooligans who become agitated when Avery nonchalantly responds to their robbery attempts, and one of the kids ends up shooting his dog and killing it. Avery does what any dog lover would do next: he grieves, buries his dog and then seeks out justice for the crime. But not Walking Tall type justice. He simply wants things put right by the kids’ parents. After getting no cooperation and a denial of the events even happening, he decides to pursue the law’s help. Frustrated after being informed that killing a dog is nothing more than animal cruelty, he next asks for the media’s help. He gets that from a reporter willing and ready to report human interest stories, but when no one does enough to warrant further news interest, she is reassigned by her bosses. Unwilling to just let things be, Avery decides to take matters into his own hands and begins following the boys and demanding justice in his own laid back way. What will happen when he finally gets pushed too far? And who will it end up hurting in the long run?
