Dig

I usually don't leave reviews but was excited to see this one because I started doing coverages for a production company before the pandemic, this was one of the scripts I remember reading. Really enjoyed it. Glad to see it made. Though the original version had three antagonists instead of two ala Straw Dogs. So I was surprised to see some beats changed from script to film. Overall the heart of the story between father and daughter is all there.

It's crazy how the final product ends up. Looks like the director gave it more of a Natural Born Killers vibe (which I can do without) rather than what I remember reading, which had more of a Desperate Hours feel (the one with Bogart not Rourke ha).

Anyway, for being a lower budget film it's not bad, we've all seen a lot worse. People are knocking Emil but I like the job he does along with Thomas Jane. Hirsch really puts it all into the role. The film has a few by the book beats but to be fair every film has "tropes". The one location thriller has become a popular genre, one pops up every few months. Still strong concept and loved the father and daughter relationship which was played by Jane's real daughter. She does a good job, guess it runs in the family.

The directing was generic for these types of thrillers but at same time not reinventing the wheel here either. Cinematography was good for the budget. Overall it's not bad, decent if you want to check it out. I dug it at the end of the day.

No pun intended - a movie that you might like, but that will depend on how forgiving you can be. Suspension of disbelief is not enough to say the least. Cliches and predictable plot add more weights to the whole thing (not in a good way as you can imagine).

I like Thomas Jane, though I feel like he may be a bit ... disappointed the way his career went. I believe he thinks he was made for better and higher things. I don't totally disagree ... but life ain't fair, so there is that ... Emile Hirsch could write a song about that ... or two. And those two kind of make the movie - if you like them. I do ... and they do try their best ... is that enough? Can you dig it, as I already asked?

The movie is pretty tedious to be honest. It starts off kind of ok, then just goes down hill bit by bit, scene by scene. There is way way too much dialogue and I kind of feel bad for the actors because the script is pretty lame.

There are a few good scenes, but overall I barely made it to the end. And by the end you just want it to end already.

I keep wondering how scripts like this get good actors to sign on board, how do they not know how bad the script and film would turn out?

Also, the director chose this honkey tonk soundtrack instead of a score so that also doesn't work. 3/10. Thanks for the effort but it just didn't work out.

This movie is a bit of a damp squid, or lame duck, (depending on your geographical location). This is primarily because of the acting. At first I though the script was at fault, and although some exchanges are lengthy, and let me be candid, this movie relies heavily on dialogue, but no, it's really the acting which lets it down... and the screenplay to some extent. It's not to say the script is bad. Its good overall, but needs tightening up in a few place, its just not tight enough for a project so heavily reliant on it

The acting on the other hand is an entirely different matter. Emil Hirsch in particular is miscast. He doesn't carry off the hillbilly redneck well enough, its forced and unnatural. Liana Liberator who plays his girlfriend sidekick is worse. They are a bargain bucket version of Oliver Stones 'Natural Born Killers' pairing played by Wood Harrelson and Juliet Lewis and there is no glossing over the shortcomings they have. Even Thomas Jane's character seems contrived and overplayed, which leads me to believe that K Asher Levin who directs this one may be at fault.

The story starts of well enough but sadly goes steadily down hill after the opening act and it becomes a bit of a slug fest after that.

I'm not going to go into great detail because it's not really worth it.

I'll give it 4 because its not terrible, but i did have a hard time making it to the end, which is always a big sign of a movies shortcomings.

Can't recommend it in all honesty.

For a B grade low budget film, it's not bad, I've seen a lot worse. The directing and cinematography was decent, and surprisingly for a B film, the score and soundtrack worked well, especially the finger-snapping music. Casting and performances were convincing, especially the Jane father-daughter duo as father and daughter, but I feel Liana Liberato needed better cast direction. The story was a good concept for the genre, but the screenplay by the newb writers, the Ablakhads, in their first ever writing credit, certainly needed some fine tuning. Even in the normally comfortable 90 min runtime and decent pacing, the film felt much longer from the lack of any real narrative. The entire first act wasn't fitting (or really needed) with the rest of the story, and there were many repetitive plot and technical issues. The dialogue was very cheesy and not enough was happening to hold the viewers attention. This film would've worked better as a short film, and/or most of the dialogue reworked with more actual drama instead of fluff, as well as more narrative in the story itself. More action and less words would've worked great on this film. But as their first writing credit, the Ablakhads did good, rookie mistakes and all. It's a generous 6/10 from me for this one-time watchable "if there's nothing else to watch" film.