psychcowboy This movie could have been much better. It was understated and cerebral, reminded me a bit of the feel of Nightcrawler or Mr. Brooks at first, so I was on the edge of my seat waiting for something to escalate or some mystery to be uncovered; kept waiting, kept waiting... Add to the 'never takes off' element is the unbelievable underlying plot for the entire movie of a twenty year old male released from prison who hooks up with a cute teen who is desperate for him... and he doesn't go for her? Thereis no sense of humanity or anything interesting in the boys personality but she ultimately professes her love for him? Why? He is good looking, but bland and anti-social. Also the unbelievable plot component of cops supporting Crowe's stalking and attempting to entrap the boy antagonist, although Crowe is a retired cop. This movie should be re-done and deviate from the book I guess so something interesting happens, the boy has a personality, Crowe's quest is believable...anything really.

SnoopyStyle In Buffalo, Lori Cranston (Sophie Traub) is a troubled developed teen facing unwelcomed sexual attention from her boss and her mother Marsha (Arija Bareikis)'s boyfriend Gary (Michael Kelly). Eric Komenko (Jon Foster) killed his parents at 15 and is getting released from juvenile detention at 18 to stay with his aunt Teresa (Laura Dern). His arresting officer Lt. Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe) is certain that he's a psychopath. Eric is driving to meet up with Maria (Alexis Dziena) when he finds Lori in the back of his car.This movie wants to hold onto its secrets. The problem is that I don't particularly care. The first half is one long tease. The opening with Sophie Traub has a couple of compelling moments. Jon Foster has a quizzical look on him. There are many possibilities. The story has a very odd twist but not a thrilling one. Russell Crowe is essentially wasted in this movie. His character is unnecessary and the story may benefit without him. None of it really pulled me into this movie. If Sophie Traub could play it more disturbed, it could be an interesting character study.

jblacktree Dreary and slow. What passes for thoughtful in indie land,its lesson seems to be this: some people are literally dying to get killed by really boring and charmless sociopaths.Everything fails, from the embarrassingly quanky music (two artsy-folksy songs under action made me blush and cringe) to the pedestrian camera work and editing to the WTF year-is-this?-costumes-and-hair to the casting of good actors in tiny parts,(better no Laura Dern than shooting with her for one day), to poor Crowe, looking puffy and depressed in sweater vest, 70s polyester, given absolutely nothing to do. Aside from moping and delivering a teen diaryish VO, this physical and vibrant actor is given nothing for his character. Sophie Traub is valiant in her efforts to give this heartless rust belt film some spark--but Jon Foster is a dead space on the screen and drowns everything around him in a kind of insidious averageness.

tcab The best I can say about this movie is that it provides suspense by constantly suggesting that something might happen. But nothing convincing or satisfying ever does.But it has serious problems with characters. A case can be made that Lori, who perhaps witnessed Eric kill a teenage girl, is traumatized and fixated with horror and fascination and thus becomes Eric's perverse groupie. Additionally she was abused by her mother's boyfriend and by her boss. So all those elements in her chaotic young life can form a coherent picture of a girl who, in a sort of Wagnerian lovedeath, finally commits suicide. (Sophie Traub, the actress who plays Lori, is a classic German "Brunhilde" type, especially in the scene where her hair is in braids. All that's missing is the lederhosen and a stein of beer.)The Russell Crowe character tells Eric, and us, that he, Eric, is psychotic and hence destined to kill again, a simplistic viewpoint that borders on the inane. Ironically, Crowe's character is the only one in the movie who behaves as though he might be psychotic.But the Erich character portrait is totally screwed up and psychologically preposterous. We have to accept, from his actions alone, that he's a murderer, but he never acts psychotic or like a person capable of murder. He appears to be a normal, if morose and disturbed, teenager. And why wouldn't he be, given what he's been through? He gives the lie to the label of "psychotic" by the intense pain he suffers over Lori's death. A psychotic would be incapable of feeling such empathy. The movie teases us with instances where it appears he is attempting to murder Lori, touches that are totally out of character for the movie and surely resulted from someone heavy-handedly screwing around with the script in a dimwitted attempt to make it more exciting.