Rating: 
Summary: Some of the reviews here completely miss the mark
Review: There is always room for legitimate difference of opinion, but many of the negative reviews of this film border on science fiction. Many seem to be based either on fallacies or misunderstandings. Let me mention this first.Number one, some have claimed that this is a thriller without thrills. Why would anyone think this is a thriller and that its purpose is to evoke thrills? It is a suspense film, and while there are few thrills (nor were there meant to be), there is considerable suspense. Negative reviews along this line try to define the film as being this or that, when in fact it is something, and then criticizing it because it doesn't conform to the fallacious definition. So, no, this is not a thriller. Two, the acting is superb, not bad. Several reviews mention bad acting, but as a former actor and hard core movie buff, I can spot bad acting when it occurs, and it is not apparent in this film. The film turns completely on Tilda Swinton's performance, and she is just stunning. And for the few critics who criticize her because she is so serious and glum, this is blaming her for the fault, if indeed it is a fault, of playing the character as it is written. Happy things do not happen to her in this movie, and to express anything other than abject desperation would be inappropriate. When the movie came out, many felt that she would not merely be nominated for the Oscar, but would win it. I agree that her performance should have garnered her an Oscar nomination. She wasn't nominated, but it should be noted that she not only was nominated by a number of other awards organizations for her performance but also won several Best Actress awards. Third, although this was not really the basis for criticism, several reviewers referred to it as a film noir. It is not. Not all suspense films are film noir, and this one lacked virtually every element that is constitutive of film noir. The only element that it shares with film noir is the sense of moral ambiguity, but even that is lost when one realizes that the mother's actions are motivated almost entirely by a desire to care for her child. Fourth, there is criticism of the way in which a gay character falls in love with Tilda Swinton's character. First (and I verified this by rewatching the film), nowhere is it intimated that Alek is gay. That is an presumption that some are reading into the film. Nor is it exactly clear that he "falls in love" with her. Nagle, Alek's business associate, when perplexed by his attempts to help her, asks him if he was having sex with her (he was not), we know that he is being utterly wrongheaded. I would suggest that reviewers who see him as unambiguously falling in love with her as also wrongheaded. Instead, I believe that Alek is placed in a position where he ceases to see her as a "business opportunity," because of his need to help her revive her father-in-law when he suffers a heart attack, and begins to see her as a human being. After she drives off in an ambulance, Alek looks around the house and sees photos that reveal an entirely different world, a kind of world that is completely closed off for him. His actions, I believe, are not based on a love for her in a romantic sense, but a deep and profound affection for the quality of life that she has, and that he does not have. There is, in the end, some emotional tension, but even if the movie had ended differently, I do not think that Alek would have attempted any kind of romantic entanglement. Finally, whatever else one can say about this film, labeling it "stupid" or "dumb" is about as far off the mark as it is possible. Instead, this movie is brimming with intelligence, and one of the marks of this is the fact that the more you think about it, there more thought it provokes. It isn't like a truly dumb film that the more you think about it, you realize that it doesn't hold water, and conceptually disintegrates, putting an end to all thought.
Rating: 
Summary: worst acting ever
Review: You know how when you watch "Showgirls" it's to laugh at the horrible acting? Well, at least Showgirls is fun to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Misrepresented
Review: This movie lacks both depth and suspense. Do not be misled by the marketing on this film -- it is not a Hitchcock thriller, it is not a thinking-person's movie. Tilda Swinton is an amazing actress, but has absolutely nothing to work with here. Frustrating!
Rating: 
Summary: Superb
Review: A stylish, quiet and intense thriller which ends up, quite surprisingly, being about the duplicity we will undertake to protect our families. Full-time mother, Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton) finds herself disposing of a body and frantically trying to raise $50,000 in 24 hours to protect her son, Beau, whom she suspects not only of murder but also of hiding his homosexual relationship with the victim. Tilda Swinton gives a superb performance of controlled panic and motherly angst, Goran Visnjic is perfectly ambiguous as the morally-fraught blackmailer, and Jonathan Tucker is hugely convincing as the son concealing his sexuality despite the awful tension this lie creates. My only reservation is that the lack of a final "coming out" scene in which that tension is broken and the family unified might suggest, to some viewers, that Beau's dishonesty is justified - like his mother's concealment, it successfully holds the family together.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed and Frustrated
Review: After all the rave reviews from critics I expected something more moving. Instead I found myself frustrated with this mother who seemed to be the biggest enabler I've ever seen. We don't know why her son got caught up with the wrong crowd. Nor does it seem that we are suppose to care. After the trouble starts it seems her only job is to cover his tracks as the two of them simply avoid any frank discussion about the matter. While the mother runs around trying to hide a body with great stoicism under pressure, the rest of the family runs around oblivious and operates as if they were characters out of Seventh Heaven. Furthermore, the movie can be accused of portraying gays in the worst possible light. The gay bar we see at the beginning of the film looks like a dark harem of good looking hunks. The men seem to be more good looking and dangerous than any gay men I've ever come across at your average bar. It is also interesting that few critics have commented on the implications in the social dynamic between the presumably gay blackmailer and the mother. Is their relationship carrying undertones of a mother and son or one of lovers? Is her maternal strength the cure for his homosexuality? The movie avoids any simple stance on the subject of homosexuality as it blurs the line between criminals and gay sexuality. For this movie they seem to be one and the same. To go to a gay bar is to venture into the dark criminal underworld with the silent strength of a dedicated mother as possible redemption. Tilda Swinton's performance was excellent but not enough to save me from being insulted by the implicit anti gay bias in this movie and the stupidity and avoidance of the family members in this film.
Rating: 
Summary: Falls Short
Review: The plot had promise. The idea of an ordinary mother making desperate moves to protect her son is intrigueing. But I would not qualify this as a thriller. There was not a time in the whole film that i was held in suspense. It's more of mystery where instead of trying to figure out who did what, the viewer is trying to figure out how it will all wrap up in an hour and forty minutes. I reccomend renting this one before you decide to purchase it.
Rating:
Summary: Still.... questions remain...
Review: Tilda Swinton may well be the most interesting actress around and, watching the film last night, I wondered at times whether any other actress could have done the job. Probably not. Donat was great: sweet, and annoying. Visnjic was sympathetic and as interesting to watch as Swinton. It was a wonderful representation of a family: hideously self-absorbed kids, dithering, frail grandparent, all dependent on one person, and that one person having to take desperate steps to save her child while keeping everyone else safe and uninvolved. I'll watch this film more than once. The camera work was first-rate, the script excellent, the action completely mesmerizing while remaining as chilly, transparent and eerie as the waters of Lake Tahoe.
Rating:
Summary: Not a very smart thriller
Review: A mildly interesting storyline is let down by an amateurish screenplay, unbelievable plot and uninvolving characters. Tilda Swinton otherwise is a fine English actress however in addition to adopting an American accent she adopts a pained blank expression whenever she tries to connote emotion - well if this worked we would all think that Kristin Scott Thomas was a fine actress.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible: Bad Acting and Awful Script
Review: I expected this to be an exciting mystery thriller. I had heard good reviews of the film. First of all the script was terrible. The dialog was very pitiful and made no sense. A high school kid in his first film class could do better. The acting was terrible. The actors seemed to be reading their one liners from the cue cards. If I didn't know better I would say they all neede to go back to acting school. They made a bad decision making this film it stinks. They had no inflection of charcter in any of the lines they read. The family did not communicate at all in this film which let to the hideous plot. The basis for the story could have been great. They had a good idea , but a terrible script and director. Do not waste your time or your money!
Rating:
Summary: Forget "Monsters Ball" and "In The Bedroom"...
Review: ...this is the real deal when it comes to intimate stories, exquisitely written, directed, acted and shot. It was unfairly overlooked at Oscar time. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that there's a mini-trend that appears to be about smaller stories and performance-oriented pieces -- but compared to the above-mentioned movies that placed well in the Oscar race this year, this one is so much more self-assured, and has so much more to say, that it's truly exhilarating to watch.
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