This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Small Town Crime and Punishment
Plot Overview
Consummate locksmith Miller
Graham (Ryan Phillipe) supplements his income with an “easy”
safe job w/ his friend Kevin Reyes (George
Akram) as a partner and police officer Ian Zwick (Jeffrey Nordling)
as a lookout. Zwick betrays them for a promotion resulting in a felony
conviction for Miller and the demise of Kevin. Ten years later Miller
is out and wanting to reestablish connection with his paramour Beth
Fisher (Kate Bosworth) who has moved on and their twelve-year-old
daughter Lindsay (Madeleine Guilbot) waiting in the wings. Kevin's
sister April (Gabriela Quezada) figures he owes her and taps him for
a big score to make it up. Meanwhile, Beth has joined the
Dos Caminos police force and been promoted to vice to be watched by
her supervisor Lt. Zwick and his
crooked cronies for signs of betrayal. An informant Tanya Saunders (Kaylee
Bryant) seeks her out and life gets complicated all around.
Ideology
Miller had a cozy job until he started feeling the effects of the small town decline: fewer customers. Furthermore, modern digital locks cut into his lucrative night calls (“I need a locksmith;”) when people could program their PINs with, say, their birthdays, they didn't find themselves locked out and needing him. He got a little antsy at night worrying about his kid's college fund that he wasn't adding to, much like the soldier returned from war in a Henry Miller novel:
The moment he sat down he went soft as putty. He wasn't a man any more, but just a big child. There must have been millions of them like him, big children with machine guns who could wipe out whole regiments without batting an eyelash; but back in the work trenches, without a weapon, without a clear, visible enemy, they were helpless as ants. Everything revolved about the question of food. The food and the rent—that was all there was to fight about—but there was no way, no clear, visible way, to fight for it. It was like seeing an army strong and well equipped, capable of licking anything in sight. and yet ordered to retreat every day, to retreat and retreat and retreat because that was the strategic thing to do, even though it meant losing ground, losing guns, losing ammunition, losing food, losing sleep, losing courage, losing life itself finally. Wherever there were men fighting for food and rent there was this retreat going on, in the fog, in the night, for no earthly reason except that it was the strategic thing to do. It was eating the heart out of him. To fight was easy, but to fight for food and rent was like fighting an army of ghosts. All you could do was retreat, and while you retreated you watched your own brothers getting popped off, one after another, silently, mysteriously, in the fog, in the dark, and not a thing to do about it. He was so damned confused, so perplexed, so hopelessly muddled and beaten— (45)
That was the locksmith who, “Ten years ago I was afraid I couldn't provide for you guys. I f__ked up. I made a really bad decision.” A student of the proverbs might have known not to look for a quick score but to keep plugging away slow and steady: (Prov. 30:7) “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:”
(Prov. 30:8-9) “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” The get-rich-quick scheme if it works will leave one in the clover but denying his dependence on God who is our ultimate Provider. If it doesn't work he'll be poor enough to steal and swear falsely about it (“I swear to God it's true.”) The lie that Miller hadn't kept far enough from was crooked Zwick's assurance.
Miller, Beth and Lindsay seemed to be doing okay in the “food convenient for me” department. They ordered lunch at the Fork in the Road Diner where Beth was waitressing when the two were seeing each other (“We used to come here all the time.”) Later when baby sitting, Miller promised, “no fast food, real dinner.” For lunch they had sandwiches and later a “nice dinner.”
Kevin's sister
April was left in the lurch (“After Kevin died I didn't have
anyone”) and went into the foster care system. When she aged
out, she was scooped up by real estate developer Garrett Field (Charlie
Weber) to work in “entertainment,” but “it's
a front; he runs girls.” She became a call girl whom he wouldn't
let go, not without violent repercussions. She needs
to be set up financially to leave. Her plan now is to have Miller
raid Garrett's annual Casino Night party for the half-million dollar pot
from the buy-ins of the dozen or so execs
who come to this small town to play where they won't be recognized.
Gambling is another form of vanity one should keep away from. As for
Garrett, “looks like business is good.” However, his study
is festooned with antlers & hunting trophies but no religious emblems,
God having no part in his life.
Production Values
“”
(2023) was directed by Nicolas Harvard. It was written by John Glosser,
Ben Kabialis and Blair Kroeber. It stars Kate Bosworth, Ryan Phillippe
and Ving Rhames. Bosworth gave a command performance albeit in a cut-rate
movie. The acting generally isn't half bad, but the written dialogue
is. Child actor Madeleine Guilbot was well coached for her wide emotional
range playing a kid who gets reunited with her dad only to be taken
hostage by a bad guy later on. Her character is portrayed as college
material worthy of her parents' investment as she plays chess, tinkers
with a smith's tools, and gives a music recital. She is worthy of
the two jobs Miller eventually acquires to the praise of his P.O.
Certification in the United Kingdom was 15. It was filmed on location in Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA. The camera work was notable for its flexibility with changing focus, near and far. We see a rare screen chess game whose realism is not sacrificed for a quicker pace—the kids used cool sound effects with their moves. Runtime is 1½ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
Imagination is necessary to the enjoyment of this film, because the characters are familiar with their small town, its people, its history, its issues, but we are not. They're not hard to imagine, just not handed to us on a platter. Fortunately, if you've got through my review, you're not a lazy viewer and should do okay. The main lesson to derive from it is both biblical and sensible, so you've good justification for seeing this one during homework time.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability for Children: Suitable for youth 15+ years with guidance. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good Date Movie. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quotations from the Authorized Version. Pub. 1611. Rev. 1769. Software.
Miller, Henry. Tropic of Capricorn. Copyright © 1961, Grove Press Inc., New York: Grove Press. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org