This movie revolves around the struggles of Christian, a young courageous criminal, who after being released from prison, struggles against finding himself trapped in an evil conspiracy and has the life and career of his brother in danger, the thing that challenges him.
I share Canet's affection for Sidney Lumet films full of scraggly sideburns and big brown Fleetwoods the size of the QE2. But if you really appreciated those movies, you'd use your memories of them to jumpstart something new.
While the story centres on twisted moral dilemmas, this 1970s-set thriller takes such a hesitant, internalised approach that if never lets viewers under the characters' skin.
It starts out feeling like too many stars in search of a story, but Owen excels as a charismatic brute, and the tautly handled set pieces drag you back in for a solid payoff.
Everything is in place to have created a truly sensational piece of cinema, and yet you can't help feeling somewhat cold towards this film, despite the memorable, impactful finale.
