Repentance

And by this I'm not only talking about the budget (which seems to be a big concern for another reviewer), but also about the story of the movie. Sometimes there is more to a story than the first glimpse reveals. It may feel like the movie tries to cheat its way into the viewers mind a little bit, but the actors make up for it.

This is still a tough watch, because the title is chosen for a reason. There is not always reason to things happening in the movie and it seems a bit like a muddle from time to time, but it's still able to hold up a certain degree of suspense, if you let it to. The actors try their best to divert from some holes in the script (or finished movie, if scenes got deleted for pacing reasons) and the movie will be explicit in depicting violence to a degree.

Solid although not usually exceptional acting from the cast carries this movie well enough, while the performance by Forest Whitaker is quite strong (but I tend to expect that from him). He carries off the role he is given well, and elicits a fair bit of understanding from the viewer even though the role he plays is a hard one to make people sympathize with. The story is solid, and the ending is decent even though it is less realistic and more moralistic in motive. I don't rate it highly, but I do give it a true medium rating and would recommend it to anyone who just wants a movie to watch that will not leave them cold.

"Seems like you were in need so I figured I'd reach out to you." Tommy Carter (Mackie) is an author and spiritual adviser who wrote a book about his near death experience and tries to help others deal with what they have gone through. When his brother gets into trouble Tommy thinks the best way to help is is to do one more one-on-one session. He offers to help Angel (Whitaker), a husband and father who lost his mother but still sees her. When Tommy tells him he can't help him anymore Angel doesn't like that answer. This is a movie that I had no idea what to expect out of it. I thought it was gonna be a little creepy but when it started becoming a little like Misery I got into it. The acting is great from these two and the movie stays pretty tense the entire time but it was also a little draggy in some parts and I found it hard to totally stay focused on. This is a movie that is worth seeing if you can but don't expect anything super amazing. Overall, a movie with shades of Misery that dragged just enough to make it hard to stay completely involved in. I give it a B-.

Review: I had high expectations from this film because it had some decent actors in it, but the storyline is sketchy and the pace of the film made it quite boring. If you use your head, the film is predictable from beginning to end although it's supposed to be a suspense thriller. It also seemed a bit over acted and the director chose to jump right at the deep end which didn't give the characters that much depth. The concept, which is about a man who has psychological issues after the death of his mum and he decides to get help from a psychologist, doesn't seem to go anywhere for the first half of the movie and then it gets extremely dark out of the blue. The ending was also very sketchy so you end up feeling a bit cheated after spending so much time waiting for the story to unfold. Personally, I thought that the movie seemed a bit cheap and not very well thought through. Disappointed!

Round-Up: Forest Whitaker is not an actor that has chose the easiest path in his career. I would have thought that he has earned the right to pick and choose what roles to take, so it might just be down to bad choices why he has starred in so many dodgy movies lately. From big movies like the Butler and The Last King Of Scotland to the dodgy Pawn, Crossfire and the Truth, he has really had a rollacoaster of a career. Maybe he's just addicted to work like Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro. Anthony Mackies career has picked up lately with roles in the new Captain America, Pain and Gain and the new Avengers movie, so I doubt that this film will harm his portfolio. In all, this film must have looked good on paper but it just wasn't put together well by the director. 

Budget: $5million Worldwide Gross: $1million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their suspense/drama/thrillers about a man whose suffering with psychological problems after the death of his mother and seeks for help from a successful book writer. 3/10

Forrest Whitaker is one of the most talented actors I have seen within the last few decades. I would put him on the same level with Sidney Portier, Denzel Washington, and Daniel Day-Lewis. His character in the Last King of Scotland was astonishing and the Oscar he received for the role was truly earned.

I guess it doesn't take long for Hollywood to forget how talented an actor is, and Whitaker wasn't offered anymore challenging roles. I guess, for financial reasons, he took whatever roles were offered.

To say this movie was completely awful and was poorly written is an understatement. The characters were unbelievable and the storyline did not make any sense. First of all, how could a street thug become transformed into a licensed therapist and earn TWO graduate degrees within a time frame of 4 years? How come the little girl did not hear any screaming after she left the locked room she was in? Why did the child's mother allow the father to have so much unsupervised time with the child? It was obvious he was unbalanced and unstable.

I just can't believe how low Whitaker stooped to make this garbage. Not worthy of an actor of his caliber.