A brawny, devil-may-care bully named Ronny Roy Pritcher (Earl Brown) terrorizes the residents of the small town of Dunsmore. But very quickly into the plot, the bully gets gunned down outside the local tavern. Enter Walter Taylor (Kadeem Hardison), representative of the State's Attorney General's Office, to try to figure out what happened. Most of the plot centers on Taylor's investigation of the locals: deadbeats, hillbillies, trailer park ladies, and other stereotyped characters.
The script asks viewers to think about a couple of rather weighty issues. Is it right for someone to dispose of a bully when local law enforcement is ineffective? Is it right for a law enforcement outsider to intrude into a small town that seems able to handle its problems on its own?
Aside from the film's thematic value, I just didn't much care for this film. For one thing, the locations are all generic. The town of Dunsmore is not set in any particular state; we never learn what "state" Walter Taylor's Attorney General's Office represents. There's a conspicuous attempt to remove the story from any real location. With such a coy script, the film forgoes a sense of realism.
Further, the script has too many flashbacks. And the TV "news" coverage scenes, and scenes of TV reporters trying to get a story, are super, super annoying. Such a film cliché reeks of lazy scriptwriting. Kadeem Hardison phones in his performance, which is dull and lifeless. On the other hand, Jeannetta Arnette gives a really fine performance as the trailer park wife of Ronny Roy.
Overall, aside from deep themes implied in the story premise, I found this film to be mediocre at best. It gets off to a good start with some atmospheric suspense. But the plot goes nowhere; the ending disappoints, along with other elements. And I could have wished for some other actor to play the role of Walter Taylor.
The script asks viewers to think about a couple of rather weighty issues. Is it right for someone to dispose of a bully when local law enforcement is ineffective? Is it right for a law enforcement outsider to intrude into a small town that seems able to handle its problems on its own?
Aside from the film's thematic value, I just didn't much care for this film. For one thing, the locations are all generic. The town of Dunsmore is not set in any particular state; we never learn what "state" Walter Taylor's Attorney General's Office represents. There's a conspicuous attempt to remove the story from any real location. With such a coy script, the film forgoes a sense of realism.
Further, the script has too many flashbacks. And the TV "news" coverage scenes, and scenes of TV reporters trying to get a story, are super, super annoying. Such a film cliché reeks of lazy scriptwriting. Kadeem Hardison phones in his performance, which is dull and lifeless. On the other hand, Jeannetta Arnette gives a really fine performance as the trailer park wife of Ronny Roy.
Overall, aside from deep themes implied in the story premise, I found this film to be mediocre at best. It gets off to a good start with some atmospheric suspense. But the plot goes nowhere; the ending disappoints, along with other elements. And I could have wished for some other actor to play the role of Walter Taylor.