We first meet insurance investigator ('adjustor') Abe Holt as he listens to his boss Frank (Peter Coyote) explain to a new widow why she will not receive full death benefits because the insurance company took photos of her husband smoking, the apparent cause of his death. Abe just sits in the background but we know he is in tune with the fraudulent activity of the insurance company. Almost immediately he is assigned to a new case: an ex-con with a million dollar life insurance policy has apparently been found dead in a car crash burned beyond recognition. Abe drives to the tiny snowy desolate village where his questions of the townsfolk reveal that the victim was Kelvin Anderson, the brother of Isold (Julia Stiles) who is married to a low life type named Fred (Jeremy Renner), a man who we have seen in flashbacks as the one responsible for arranging the car crash and setting the car on fire. Abe sneaks around the town, spies on Isold, and becomes involved in the investigation in more ways than the honest one. It is the interplay of the three - Abe, Fred, and Isold - that provide the intrigue and mystery of the apparent framed insurance scam. a modern film noir with an excellent cast, a beautiful soundtrack and atmospheric sequences in the rain or snow. Maybe the tone is a bit too sad and nihilistic for the big crowd.
A good performance from Forest Whitaker, unfortunately that's about it. A dull story which stumbles all over itself sabotages it's own good ending. Too bad.
it was...a bit stale at times, and predictable at times too. but Whitaker's voice is something else...i don't know what to think of him doing different voices yet.
I found this movie a bit strange. I didnt like how forest whitakers character kept going into buildings like a cop, when he isnt. Is that how insurance investigators work? A bit like stalkers reallly. I do like the fact that the house does need to pay out in the end.
One night can change the course of one persons plans, in this film the lives of three adults and a child are turned upside down when Isoldes brother is murdered or so altleast thats what they think, the thing is the investigation behind the murder starts to reveal that it is all a big game being played.
A Subpar performance to say the least for forest whittaker, not his best but still very acceptable and very likeable. Forest never really diistuingusihes the type of accent he is trying to pull off therefore you cannot really say whether he pulled it off well or not. His acting could have used alot of work for this film to be rated higher but its just one of those film that doesnt get the high rating and likely never will
The things that catch the audience are the setting and the twist of the film. The setting maked it out to be just a small town and nothing to huge can go down,but one of the biggest inssurance scams is happening right there in front of them. That helps clear the fact that up until this point the film really had nothing going for itself and establishes a different type of setting. As for the catch it will surprise the audience distracting the audience from what this film lacks most ans that is acting, the twist makes you not care about the acting and just want to see how it turns out.
Not the greates of films but still very enjoyable for a firday afternoon pick me up
Forest Whitaker is a great actor that adds to any movie he is in. This is a slower movie that moves along pretty well. THeir are just spots they don't come together. Nik L.
Great movie, amazing to see see how they used the countryside of Iceland to display a small town in the USA. As well as the scenes from the "big city" which where all shot in Reykjavík the capital of Iceland, where they only put American signs on the buildings to turn it all into an American city.The story is really good, all the unexpected twists and turns keep you interested throughout the whole movie.
The premise of this film was what originally got me interested in seeing this one. It started out quite slow and I found it hard to get into the movie until half way, when things started picking up just a tad bit. I got pretty interesting at that point but it was a bit too late for me to really fully enjoy the movie!
Decent flick with an interesting performance from Whitaker. Can't quite put my finger on that accent. Is it Scottish Minnesotan? Fascinating.
And pretty much anything with Stiles in it I like. She's nothing special, I just like her. The story kept my interest but wasn't especially compelling or captivating. Nothing you need to rush out and see, but may be worth it if you can't find anything else.
Forest Whitaker did an excellent performance as usual and although the movie had a good storyline, some good little twists and the ending was excellent and unexpected, It didn't really do a great deal for me. I felt pretty neutral throughout the whole thing
MCT:April 1, 2008
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MCT:December 16, 2007
