The Lesser Evil

A very talented double cast of characters and excellent use of flashbacks makes for a very good dark drama. Four young friends meet in an abandon quarry and a devious prank turns into an accidental double murder. The four go their separate ways and meet again as adults when the authorities get close to solving the crime by tracing the gun back to one of the four. Now the four turn on each other in order to protect themselves.

The four adult friends are played by David Paymer, Tom Goldwyn, Arlis Howard and Colm Feore. Their younger counterparts are Adam Scott, Jonathan Scarfe, Marc Warden and Steven Petrarca. Both sets of actors were brilliant. Not exactly predictable and enough tension to curl the hair on the back of your neck. One minute you feel sorry for each of these characters and then a few moments later you want to slap a knot on them yourself. Suspense and nail biting galore. You wear yourself out just watching.

I immediatly found myself engrossed into The Lesser Evil, it's strong cast and fascinating plot gripped me and I expected something really quite special.

Alas it wasn't to be, but the film certainly does have it's merits regardless.

It has a real Stephen King feel to it, telling the story of 4 friends who meet up for the first time in 20yrs and are forced to face their sins. Set across both present and flashbacks I'm almost surprised it's not Kings work.

Starring several industry veterans including Colm "Storm of the Century" Feore and David Paymer along with current popular comedy star Adam Scott the performances were never going to be in question.

The plot starts off strong but starts to struggle, by the end it's devoid of originality and the fascination had long since waned.

This is one of those films that genuinely saddened me as I hoped for something really quite good here. It's still interesting and the cast are fantastic, but it feels like potential not only squandered but thoroughly butchered.

The Good:

Some competent writing

The Bad:

Some of the young to old casting is awful

Loses steam

Naff finale which doesn't really make much sense

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Religion isn't part of reality, wait no I already knew that

I gave this movie an 8 and after voting instantly wished I'd given it a 9. The cast, those playing the 4 main characters in the present and in the past, did an excellent job. The best acting performances were turned in by David Paymer and Adam Scott as "adult George" and "young George" respectively. I checked my skin a couple of times to make sure the slime hadn't slithered off of him and made it's way through the ether to my living room. But I think the real talent here was that of Jeremy Levine who write the script. I visited IMDB specifically to see if the story had been taken from a short story but evidently it wasn't. It was just plain good writing and even the heavy use of flashback, rather than slowing down the suspense, actually enhanced it. It was the classic writer's technique of starting with a simple situation and piling on complication after complication until the suspense is unbearable. He did it extremely well and it worked.

And its reputation to that end will grow as word-of-mouth continues to spread about this utterly gripping film, a sordid tale of four carefree young friends whose lives forever are changed within one instant.

From the start, we are drawn into an inexorable spiral of almost unrelieved tension. An embarrassing encounter wounds the boys' pride, leading first to rash, childish posturing, immature decisions, and then to a mistaken identity in an abandoned quarry. The story becomes a steamroller in overdrive, as suspicions mount and personal loyalties melt away, overwhelmed by uncomprehending panic, sheer desperation, and the drive towards individual survival.

No other film I've seen has ever led me to as much ongoing "what would I do?" self-introspection. The once-secure bonding among the four young men collapses, replaced by terror and the fear of discovery. This descent into the "eat-or-be-eaten" dark side is part of the relentless march away from civility that captivates us throughout.

You'll not forget this film, its powerful imageries, and its fine cast's potent portrayals of psychological interplay. (Watch for legendary radio actor Mason Adams as the father of the deceased.) Highly recommended to adults.

This film was one of the best I've seen of its kind in quite some time. This is a psychological drama about four friends, who 22 years ago unintentionally committed a double homicide and then successfully covered it up. Now the police have discovered one of the bodies and a gun they can link to one of the four. The story unfolds as the friends, who haven't spoken since the event, come together to decide how to handle the situation. Throughout the drama, the story flashes back to the original story when they were teenagers, so you really have two suspenseful interconnected stories unfolding simultaneously.

The film shows the twisted judgments made by desperate men in a crisis situation. It was difficult not to be asking oneself, `What would I do in that situation?' I really only had one plot criticism and that is why did the police not ask about the destroyed TV set? If you see the film, you will know what I mean.

The film was excellent in almost every regard. The story was gripping with numerous plot twists that kept the viewer guessing as to what would happen next, all the way to the end. The portrayals of these frantic characters on the brink of distraction, desperately trying to come up with a solution that would keep them out of jail was riveting. The direction and photography was very good, without the need for special sets or effects.

The acting was terrific. Colm Fiore was outstanding as Derek, the owner of the gun who was being questioned by the police. He plays a character who is simultaneously terrified, despondent, angry and devious and switches back and forth between these states flawlessly. David Paymer gives the best performance I've seen by him to date as the underhanded lawyer trying to shift blame away from himself. Even Tony Goldwyn, who often comes off a little stiff, gave an excellent performance.

The acting by the young cast was also marvelous. It was a commendable job by casting and director David MacKay to find four actors who resembled the older actors so much and still had the talent to play their parts so convincingly. Of these, Marc Worden who played young Ivan was a particualar standout.

MacKay's best accomplishment was his ability to convincingly draw the right emotional mix out of the cast. The hand held flight scenes in the woods were well done and enhanced the dramatic effect. There was one scene with George (David Paymer) brandishing a hand gun that was done with a wide angle lens that was a bit amateurish (it made it look like he was holding a howitzer), but otherwise the camera work was well done with visual perspectives that enhanced the impact of the scenes.

MacKay's weaving of the two stories (past and present) in post production was masterful and kept the film moving at breakneck speed. Just when you needed an explanation to put some present event in context, there was the next flashback, as if the director anticipated the questions the viewer was asking himself.

Overall, this was a taut, well crafted film. It was great to see a low budget independent film with so much entertainment value. I gave it a 9/10. Hunt it down and find it at your local video store. You won't regret it.