Two Men in Town (2014)

A Muslim ex-con forms a friendship with his parole officer.

Director:

Rachid Bouchareb

Writers:

Olivier Lorelle (adaptation), Yasmina Khadra (adaptation)

Stars:

Ellen Burstyn, Forest Whitaker, Harvey Keitel

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ellen Burstyn	...	Garnett's mother
Forest Whitaker	...	William Garnett
Harvey Keitel	...	Bill Agati
Brenda Blethyn	...	Emily Smith
Luis Guzmán	...	Terence
Reg E. Cathey	...	Supervisor Jones
Tim Guinee	...	Rod
Sarah Minnich	...	Christina
Dolores Heredia	...	Teresa Flores
Matthew Page	...	Prison Guard
Michael Anthony Stone	...	Sheriff Deputy (as Michael Stone)
Chris Ranney	...	Parolee
Robert Dean	...	Deputy
Stan Carp	...	Richard Wayne
Aaron Alexander	...	Bar Patron

Storyline

Forest Whitaker plays a parolee, who finds Allah inside, and tries to get his life on track after 18 years. He's off to a good start with a job, a bank account, and a good woman. Of course his old partner in crime tries hard to get him to come back to his old ways, but the real problem is the sheriff in town who won't let him forget his dark past.

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Plot Keywords:

muslim | parole officer | parole | mother son relationship | adoptive mother | 

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Taglines:

One man's freedom is another man's obsession.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

France Belgium Algeria USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 March 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bill's Law

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tessalit Productions,Pathé,Agence Algérienne pour le Rayonnement Culturel (AARC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film cast includes two Oscar winners: Forest Whitaker and Ellen Burstyn; and two Oscar nominees: Harvey Keitel and Brenda Blethyn.

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Quotes

Bill Agati: You can't break the law to enforce the law.

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Connections

Remake of Two Men in Town (1973)

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Soundtracks

You've Done It Already
by Éric Neveux
© 2014 Pathé Production / Tessalit Productions

User Reviews

40 years on

My summary line making the point that this is a remake many years removed from its (french) original. I haven't watched the original, so I cannot tell you how the two movies compare. I can only judge this by its own merits (and faults). What I can say, is that Whitaker is giving an excellent performance. It's also nice to see Harvey Keitel in a bigger role, even if it sometimes turns a bit comic evil, he has the gravitas to pull it in.

The age old question within this movie is: can we escape our pasts? Can we change and become someone/something different? Can we ever truly repent and is there such a thing as forgiveness? Those are heavy topics and the movie does not stay away from other topics as well (like religion, though it's not really made a big strong point, other than being there). You can tell early on, if this is the kind of "entertainment" you like to watch or not ... the rhythm/pace stays the same throughout (occasional outbursts excluded)