Showing @ Cineworld, Edinburgh, Fri 20 Jun & Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Mon 23 Jun
Jim Mickle / USA / 2014 / 109 mins
Jim Mickle’s film isn’t so much filled with twists and turns as sudden changes of gear. Just when you think you’ve figured out what type of thriller you’re watching it speeds off in a completely different direction, leaving you as bewildered as the film’s protagonist. Michael C Hall plays Richard Dane, a picture framer and family man who is thrown into a world of crime and violence when he accidentally shoots a burglar. Stalked by the victim’s vengeful father (Sam Shephard) he makes a discovery that throws his certainties about the way the world works into confusion, and he makes the classic movie mistake of not letting sleeping dogs lie.
Shephard as always lends a leathery gravitas to proceedings as a hard-bitten ex con but the standout performance is Don Johnson, swapping his pastel tees and sockless loafers for western shirts and cowboy boots in a colourful turn as a private eye and part time pig farmer. That Hall manages to hold his own between Shephard’s grizzled intensity and Johnson’s showier performance is testament to his growing stature as an actor. This is a slow burn film but Mickle keeps the tension throughout. Its climax is predictable but as is true of many thrillers, it’s more about the journey than the destination.
Showing as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2014