Shimmer Lake

'SHIMMER LAKE': Four Stars (Out of Five)

A crime thriller told in reverse order, about a sheriff investigating a bank robbery involving his brother and two old high school friends. It was written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Oren Uziel (who previously wrote the horror-comedy 'FREAKS OF NATURE', and he also co-wrote '22 JUMP STREET'). The movie stars Benjamin Walker, Rainn Wilson, Stephanie Sigman, Wyatt Russell, Adam Pally, Mark Rendall, John Michael Higgins, Ron Livingston and Rob Corddry. It was released by Netflix through their streaming site, and it's gotten polarized reviews from critics (from the small number that have seen it that is, but some rave about it). I really enjoyed it too.

The story is told over the course of one week, in reverse order, starting with Friday. It's about a bank robbery gone wrong, in a small town, being investigated by Sheriff Zeke Sikes (Walker). The robbery was carried out by Zeke's brother Andy (Wilson), and two old high school friends of theirs, Ed Burton (Russell) and Chris Morrow (Rendall). On Friday, Andy is trying to get away with the money from the robbery, while his brother is looking for him. We see Andy's fate, and then we learn what happened to everyone else, and everything that happened leading up to Friday, in reverse daily order.

The movie is pretty cleverly written, and acted, and it even has a pretty fun twist at the end. It seems fresh, and pretty original, but if you take away the 'reverse order' storytelling gimmick, it's not really that original or memorable. Still it's highly amusing, and always interesting to watch. It should keep most viewers guessing (until the very end) as well. It did for me, and I definitely recommend it.

I read the plot summary, "OK, structured like Memento, let's see if it's original." Started out fair with nothing very compelling. Seemed like a standard small town crime story with nothing new beyond the backwards- in-time format. But definitely picks up along the way. Got more interested as I watched and it ultimately paid off very well! The structure truly served the plot and was not just applied to make it seem creative. It was inventive, tautly paced, well cut and an appropriate length. Give it a shot. You might even want to watch it again. I plan to.

A crime caper which is told in reverse which seems like a bad choice until the end (beginning) of the story where it all comes together nicely. It has a quirky style, some humorous moments and good acting, but mostly, it just rolls along without much of a fuss.

"Shimmer Lake" is a very enjoyable dark comedy from Netflix.

The story of a bank robbery is told backwards. When I started watching it, I thought it looked cheap. I don't think it cost a fortune. It concerns the local sheriff and his attempts to bring three bank robbers to justice - one of whom is his brother. The story goes in reverse day by day as we meet the different participants.

I thought the dialogue was funny, the actors were fine, and while it will remind some people of Fargo, it's no Fargo though it is good. And I loved the way it was wrapped up at the end.

Clever, funny, Netflix has redeemed itself after that awful thing Handsome.

It's smart, funny, dark and succinct. Makes you use your brain a bit as you rethink the previous scenes with each newfound bit of information. I was pleasantly entertained and actually laughed out loud several times. A hidden gem of a movie that deserves much better than the 6.2 rating it currently has. I'm starting to lose faith in the IMDb rating system.