Regarded in the trailer as "one of the most corrupt cops ever on screen," Woody Harrelson's character was honestly underwhelming. The actor did an exceptional job portraying a dirty cop, but was no where near the capacity of evil as Denzel in Training Day or Damon in The Departed. His portrayal was very real which is a characteristic that Oren Moverman appears to gravitate to in his films and while Moverman, in his second theatrical film, does a good job, it is no where near what he achieved in his amazing debut The Messenger. Harrelson did a fine job but he also failed to achieve the same greatness that he displayed in The Messanger as well. Some of the talented character actors in the film like Ben Foster and Sigourney Weaver deliver solid performances but aren't on screen enough make any impact overall to the film. It's a film that due to it's original limited release will likely struggle at the box office and moviegoers aren't missing too much in the process. I enjoy dramatic movies more than any other genre, but I found this film bland and the characters for the most part only OK at best. The actors did a good job but not good enough to make the film a success. There was just no wow factor in this film, which anticipated the wow factor being Harrelson's villainous performance. I'd give it a C in large part due to a broad and bland plot which could've been much better.
