Rating: 
Summary: The Sins of the Father ...
Review: What a find this movie was. Subtle, tense, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny and ultimately satisfying.A hit-man wants out of the family business, and in to the pants of Neve Campbell. Which, I suppose, makes him a murderer and a philanderer. Not that you'll feel anything but empathy and compassion for William H. Macy's character: which, of course, is his genius. In a story that explores, among other things, the whole family dynamic - from the damage our parents do us, to the effort needed to make a marriage succeed - you'll find it all rings true. The context of the story is alien and exotic, but the relationships aren't. Your father is probably not a controlling and manipulative sociopath (and, you know, small mercies and all that ...) but even so, how many of us would find it easy to step up and admonish him, when he steps over the line? Donald Sutherland's performance as the sociopathic pater is astonishingly good. He actually had me shouting at the screen. And I'm British. We just don't do that ... Give this movie a go. You won't find the experience entirely comfortable, nor will it be an escape from the rigours of the world (because there's too much of the world in the movie) but it will make you laugh, wince, cheer and, most importantly of all, it will make you think.
Rating: 
Summary: Total Misfire
Review: Wow, did this fail. I give it two stars for Macy, a fine actor. But this movie did not ring true anywhere. Too obviously trying to be hip, the dialogue is totally unbelievable, as are the motivations. Supposedly a hit at Sundance, test audiences hated it. Believe the audiences. It is not enough to be clever; one must have characters that at least seem like they have a chance to be real. Also, the shifting tones (drama? comedy?) did not jibe. Chalk this one up as another of those inexplicable misfires (Ishtar?) that seem to fool everybody but the people buying the tickets.
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