Although not everything made complete sense to me here in the way it was presented, I still found this movie to be most absorbing and often riveting as it progressed.
Both James Franco and Jonah Hill are both in top form here in their lead roles, while the talented Felicity Jones adds strong support as well. Franco is quite sinister and believable in his portrayal of Christian Longo, accused of the horrific crime of murdering his wife and 3 small children, in Oregon in 2001. Hill plays Mike Finkel who's been recently fired as a writer for the New York Times, for embellishing a story on African plantation workers.
On a tip, Finkel learns that Longo, captured in Mexico, has been using Finkel's name as an alias, which naturally piques his interest. The two men will begin to communicate and eventually meet face-to-face where Longo is incarcerated. Longo will begin to tell his story to Finkel, and by giving him exclusive rights Finkel will begin to negotiate a book deal. However as time passes, it becomes increasingly apparent that one or both of the men are using each other for their own purposes. This "dance" that Longo and Finkel will undergo can be quite mesmerizing and is the crux of the movie.
Overall, I thought that director Rupert Gould does a most capable directing job here, as he also co-wrote the screenplay with David Kajganich, based on Finkel's book. The film kept me engaged throughout as it wound its way through exposing the horrific crime and what actually happened on that day.
Both James Franco and Jonah Hill are both in top form here in their lead roles, while the talented Felicity Jones adds strong support as well. Franco is quite sinister and believable in his portrayal of Christian Longo, accused of the horrific crime of murdering his wife and 3 small children, in Oregon in 2001. Hill plays Mike Finkel who's been recently fired as a writer for the New York Times, for embellishing a story on African plantation workers.
On a tip, Finkel learns that Longo, captured in Mexico, has been using Finkel's name as an alias, which naturally piques his interest. The two men will begin to communicate and eventually meet face-to-face where Longo is incarcerated. Longo will begin to tell his story to Finkel, and by giving him exclusive rights Finkel will begin to negotiate a book deal. However as time passes, it becomes increasingly apparent that one or both of the men are using each other for their own purposes. This "dance" that Longo and Finkel will undergo can be quite mesmerizing and is the crux of the movie.
Overall, I thought that director Rupert Gould does a most capable directing job here, as he also co-wrote the screenplay with David Kajganich, based on Finkel's book. The film kept me engaged throughout as it wound its way through exposing the horrific crime and what actually happened on that day.