A marine returns to his ramshackle burgh after serving in Afghanistan. No sooner do his friends and family welcome him back, he gets word that somebody will be coming to town to settle an old score with him. As good a premise as any, but the film doesn't do much with it. The former marine spends about 90% of the film looking for backup in advance of his foe's return. The acting is good, the people he interacts with are well characterised, yet one can only watch so many variations on the same conversation before it gets tiresome. I won't give away what happens when his nemesis arrives on the 11:55 bus but I found it seriously anti-climactic.
6 Reviews
I'd only add one word to the rating...
jenwithapen16 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!! DUH ;D Still, I'd hate to get banned for not warning you. ;D
A rating of 1 on this site is "awful", or so it says! I'd only add one word to that in order for it to be completely fitting. The movie was _god_ awful. Surprising, too, considering some of the cast!
At first, I thought maybe it only struggled with direction (it was as if the directors were trying to say, "People, in general, lack total self-awareness,") but now I think it's just that the directors lacked the mental-fortitude!
Not five minutes into the movie you've got the main character buying a gift for someone who is neither 8 years old, NOR A BOY! Instead of apologizing and saying something appropriate, the guy sarcastically offers to buy (the clearly 14-15 yr old GIRL) CONDOMS. Yeesh!
This is prefaced with a prior interaction where there was a cashier so clearly uninterested in her job (CASHING what's his nuts out) that she appeared as if she didn't even know there WAS such an invention! So disillusioned with her job, was she, that she seemed like she was giving the camera the slowest eye roll in human history! Then again, the dude who bought the toy car doesn't seem to know where he's at when he asks ghetto-toys'r'us GIFT WRAP IT! Yikes! I probably would have slow-eyerolled, too!
Next up, there's the salsa dancing barber who is (FOR WHATEVER REASON) salsaing in the middle of the salon! It's never explained, never even touched upon, just spontaneous dance break!
And all of this goodness within the first ten minutes. The lack of self-awareness is key, but after twenty minutes watching these patched together and just as quickly orphaned sequences, I can see why people have rated this one so low! Actually, I'm a little clueless why it's rating this HIGH!
There are a billion and half other glaring issues as the "story" (and you'll use that word extremely flippantly, because at 105 minutes in (with just 20 to go) you'll really wonder where the story was!!). Obviously, it wasn't in the movie!
Strangely, with 88 reviews, RT has this at a 93% audience approved. At least IMDb is a little closer to true North. ;P We know what's up! And this movie was a real turd. ;D
A rating of 1 on this site is "awful", or so it says! I'd only add one word to that in order for it to be completely fitting. The movie was _god_ awful. Surprising, too, considering some of the cast!
At first, I thought maybe it only struggled with direction (it was as if the directors were trying to say, "People, in general, lack total self-awareness,") but now I think it's just that the directors lacked the mental-fortitude!
Not five minutes into the movie you've got the main character buying a gift for someone who is neither 8 years old, NOR A BOY! Instead of apologizing and saying something appropriate, the guy sarcastically offers to buy (the clearly 14-15 yr old GIRL) CONDOMS. Yeesh!
This is prefaced with a prior interaction where there was a cashier so clearly uninterested in her job (CASHING what's his nuts out) that she appeared as if she didn't even know there WAS such an invention! So disillusioned with her job, was she, that she seemed like she was giving the camera the slowest eye roll in human history! Then again, the dude who bought the toy car doesn't seem to know where he's at when he asks ghetto-toys'r'us GIFT WRAP IT! Yikes! I probably would have slow-eyerolled, too!
Next up, there's the salsa dancing barber who is (FOR WHATEVER REASON) salsaing in the middle of the salon! It's never explained, never even touched upon, just spontaneous dance break!
And all of this goodness within the first ten minutes. The lack of self-awareness is key, but after twenty minutes watching these patched together and just as quickly orphaned sequences, I can see why people have rated this one so low! Actually, I'm a little clueless why it's rating this HIGH!
There are a billion and half other glaring issues as the "story" (and you'll use that word extremely flippantly, because at 105 minutes in (with just 20 to go) you'll really wonder where the story was!!). Obviously, it wasn't in the movie!
Strangely, with 88 reviews, RT has this at a 93% audience approved. At least IMDb is a little closer to true North. ;P We know what's up! And this movie was a real turd. ;D
decent and pensive
markstylesnyc12 June 2017
I think this was a decent movie.. I'm actually glad it wasn't full of mindless violence and sex scenes. It seems too many movies rely on that nowadays. His acting was first rate.. He came back a marine, torn about what he had done in the past..
It showed the viewer how one can get locked into their past. Yes it could have been more exciting, more gritty, but I thought it was quite view-able the way it was.
It showed the viewer how one can get locked into their past. Yes it could have been more exciting, more gritty, but I thought it was quite view-able the way it was.
Refreshing! Excellent Movie with true representation of the reality of many Dominican Americans in the US!
msminaya24 February 2018
Refreshing to see authenticity and the reality faced by many Dominican Americans. The hopes, the dreams, the challenges all represented in this story paint a true picture of our lives. Much needed in a time period where polarization of politics, the arts, culture runs rampant. We must continue to fight for representation of our own stories. We must create a space for our stories to be shared.
I was so proud to watch in HULU and SHOWTIME! Proud to know that films like this are being supported. Proud of the actors and most importantly proud of seeing Dominican American Culture reflected in film.
Thank you!
A proud Dominican American Latina
Patricia Minaya-Orsini
New York, New York
Powerful instant classic
ls7111 June 2017
This is an excellent and entertaining drama/western; a powerful instant classic on its own right. Credibility and authenticity in a movie are the most important proofs of talent. Issler, Snyder and Almanraz, the writers/directors and the lead actor of the film, do have that special talent. They created a carefully designed, suspenseful story about revenge, forgiveness and redemption in the life of a returning US Marine and his community. It is resourceful and successfully avoids gimmicks, packed with well-motivated and surprising twists; it's a gem of creativity, full of fascinating and complex characters. Remarkable film by filmmakers to watch. (In Cinema Village (NY) and also available on Vimeo.com and YouTube.com to buy or rent everywhere.)
Underrated gem.
cleft_asunder6 October 2018
It's been more than a year since I saw this film, and I'm still recommending it to people. It's character driven and very believable, and whatever shortfalls the plot has are easily made up by the believable cast, dialogue, and interactions between the characters. The men are masculine and tough, and the women are feminine and tough, so both sexes are depicted beautifully. Really, the cast was perfectly picked and you feel like you're watching a real Dominican family.
Is it one of those films that is so serious that you regretted watching it? Definitely not! Everything is just right and I would say the film is for anyone looking for a serious film that is easy to watch. This is definitely not just for veterans, yet veterans will really love this film. A similar (non military) film to this would be 'Into the Furnace' with Woody Harlesson because of how manly that film is, so if you loved that film, you'll like this one. (Woody is such a bada** in that film, and a master actor.)
Not much to say otherwise except that you should go see it. Yes I'm one of those guys that loved 'The Thin Red Line' in theaters, but no... it's not slow like that. This one carters to a much wider audience.
Is it one of those films that is so serious that you regretted watching it? Definitely not! Everything is just right and I would say the film is for anyone looking for a serious film that is easy to watch. This is definitely not just for veterans, yet veterans will really love this film. A similar (non military) film to this would be 'Into the Furnace' with Woody Harlesson because of how manly that film is, so if you loved that film, you'll like this one. (Woody is such a bada** in that film, and a master actor.)
Not much to say otherwise except that you should go see it. Yes I'm one of those guys that loved 'The Thin Red Line' in theaters, but no... it's not slow like that. This one carters to a much wider audience.
See also
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