I've been reading some of the other comments, most of them are pretty fair, but a few of them are written by people who didn't see the point of the film - nor do they appreciate good acting.
I have recently been catching up with Rourkes early work, and I am fascinated by his acting abilities. He plays a very interesting, Native American gang hit-man (Black Bird), and he somehow portrays the characters' experience and inner moral battles without saying hardly anything. In just one look across the table to Diane Lane, he displays his reflections on his past and his desire to change as an ageing assassin. You really get the feeling that Bird has created a cage for himself in which he must uncompromisingly kill anyone who has seen his face, regardless of whether they are good people. I could somehow empathise with Black Birds situation, that he had a long career of emotionless killing that was blown away by the death of his younger brother, which led Bird to take a very different path - with an unlikely accomplice - dragging good people into his dark world.
I was also very impressed with Joseph Gordon-Levitts' performance as Richie Nix, but not at all surprised considering his performance in Mysterious Skin (2005). Thomas Jane and Diane Lane (hey that rhymes) did a good job as the troubled couple caught in the middle of it all, but there were no "wow" moments from them either.
Overall, this is a pretty good action flick. Sure it's not a crazy, over-indulgent, sensationalist Hollywood blockbuster, but it is a good story about how the average person reacts to extraordinary situations - and how extraordinary people on the fringes of society react to the average person.
I have recently been catching up with Rourkes early work, and I am fascinated by his acting abilities. He plays a very interesting, Native American gang hit-man (Black Bird), and he somehow portrays the characters' experience and inner moral battles without saying hardly anything. In just one look across the table to Diane Lane, he displays his reflections on his past and his desire to change as an ageing assassin. You really get the feeling that Bird has created a cage for himself in which he must uncompromisingly kill anyone who has seen his face, regardless of whether they are good people. I could somehow empathise with Black Birds situation, that he had a long career of emotionless killing that was blown away by the death of his younger brother, which led Bird to take a very different path - with an unlikely accomplice - dragging good people into his dark world.
I was also very impressed with Joseph Gordon-Levitts' performance as Richie Nix, but not at all surprised considering his performance in Mysterious Skin (2005). Thomas Jane and Diane Lane (hey that rhymes) did a good job as the troubled couple caught in the middle of it all, but there were no "wow" moments from them either.
Overall, this is a pretty good action flick. Sure it's not a crazy, over-indulgent, sensationalist Hollywood blockbuster, but it is a good story about how the average person reacts to extraordinary situations - and how extraordinary people on the fringes of society react to the average person.