Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Bob An Not a bad movie for an afternoon watching. I enjoyed it quite a lot, though I must say that first third of the movie was kinda slow and uninteresting. Also, I thought that Reese's acting was totally and completely uninspired and unconvincing during the first half of the movie! I was really surprised how bad she was as usually she does movies justice - though, on the second thought, maybe only in comedies.Other father's and mother's of dead boys were also quite unconvincing. And some scenes were almost a joke. The main guilty one...thought that his acting was good and consistent throughout the movie. As for the Colin. He is OK, though his first appearance in the movie buying Napoleon's desk is what? What does have to do with the story or him? Based on a true story is in most cases - for me - very interesting from the start. This was no exception. And the ending ( and facts) leaves you speechless. But on the other hand, was glad to know that they did not kill the main suspect. Though, it also leaves the question: who killed the boys? If I understood correctly, it seems that it were their fathers? Eight from me.

Casey Black Prior to watching this film I had taken a class that spent about a month or so looking in-depth into the case of The West Memphis Three very heavily and even getting the opportunity to meet with Dan Stidham, Jessie Misskelly's defense attorney. So watching the film for the first time I was pretty critical to see how the characters would be portrayed and perhaps hint at specifically that Terry Hobbs had in fact been the real murderer. I was quite pleasantly surprised that the movie took a rather objective stand about the suspected murderer besides the three West Memphis teens, Damien, Jason, and Jessie. The movie presented the other theories that have surfaced; including as mentioned before, Terry Hobbs, John Mark Byers, and the mysterious "Mr. Bojangles". I appreciated those view points and really gave the viewer the chance to create their own theory. I thought the facts in the film were almost entirely accurate and had a few misconstrued details, but where won't one find that in a movie 'based' on real-life events. One of the things that I enjoyed thoroughly about the film was the credit and presence on Ron Lax in the trials of the three teens. In the film he took on the role of most likely the lead male character which I did not expect. When reading and researching the case by itself Lax does not really play a large part in the trials of the three teens. I felt as if this film gave Lax the credit he deserved as well as Stidham's dedication to the three teens when the two other attorneys dropped off after the sentence. Another character that I felt got a little lost in the film was Micheal Moore along with Chris Byers. All in all I felt like the film gave an accurate representation of facts and visual images to the story. However, the documentaries would hold more fact filled information if one desires more information about the West Memphis Three.

Reno Rangan I understand why this film did not vastly, positively recognized, even though it was taken straight from a really cruel incident. Some viewers mind only the commercial value, forget that one because they're living a useless and careless life about society. And the other reason is there is nothing wrong in performance, direction or in any technical aspect, but the story itself do not fit to be a movie. It should have been documentary instead.Coincidentally, this movie was similar to the 2011 Koren movie 'Children...' which was also based on the true event. About children who go missing. Both the events took place in the early 90s. This silver screen movie looks a lot like television broadcastable item that it should be. There is a documentary trilogy inspired from this story. The motive was to bring the truth out and it was well received according to ratings and reviews. And don't forget the books.''My son is 8-year-old. He sleeps with a night light on, he did not run away from home.''A movie must have (1) a story to begin with, (2) characters that develop along the story and (3) finally a conclusion whether twist in it or not, happy or sad, either way it works. So what's wrong with it? Well, it lacks in development in either of above first two points and extents throughout without nothing while we are expecting a glimpse of something to happen. The fact is, no one knows what really happened, actually those who know are tight lipped because of involvement. I just can't conclude my judgement because of this movie, but give a fair point for anyone who are not familiar with this case.Not focused on a particular character, the most of the perspective in the storytelling was Colin Firth's role which was just an appearance to show I'm there but not in action. You have a couple of choices to rate this movie, one, based on the story which is real and cruel, and another is the movie that disappoints as a movie. Like I am always quite happy with the product like this, because I got to know what I supposed to learn about this 'West Memphis Three' case. Hope the new movie do convey well to the cinematic output.

moonspinner55 True account of three pre-teen boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 who were murdered while out riding their bikes and dumped in the river; the slow-acting local law, while managing to botch up evidence and allow a blood and mud-covered drifter go free, focuses their investigation on a trio of trouble-causing teenage boys into witchcraft and heavy metal music, while the public seems grateful just to have faces to pin their rage upon. Since the real-life case had a peculiarly unresolved and unsatisfying conclusion, the film follows suit. Director Atom Egoyan handles the proceedings matter-of-factly; he thankfully isn't exploitative but, while there are devastating images, his cool, detached take on these crimes lacks an emotional core (which Reese Witherspoon's grieving mother fails to provide). Colin Firth, as wealthy legal investigator Ron Lax, offers the movie a reality check--his 'obsession' with the case is subtle and he's a marvelous touchstone--but the small-minded bigots and publicity-seekers in the supporting cast are hard to take. Egoyan, working from a screenplay by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson, from Mara Leveritt's book, seems intent on showing us the town's mass prejudice--even the judge in the courtroom acts like a yokel--and this causes the narrative to flag in the second-half. ** from ****