Most Wanted

MOST WANTED is a fascinating story about police corruption. The considerably engaging story is what matters in this flick; the direction and acting are good, but have little to do with the story's impact. The last scene with the comment about Zen Buddhism and then ultimately "Gratitude" is probably what this flick is actually about.

this one is alright, but it's almost a carbon copy of "a prayer before dawn", which is basically better in every way. if you liked this, which i admittedly did, then you should watch the better version of what is almost the same story. i don't regret watching this, and the cast and general production values are nice. it's just not quite as good, and seems to end before the real juicy content starts. a prayer before dawn does not shy from getting into the grittier content, so this film might be better for viewers with less of a tough skin, but it's just not as good. some reviews said that harnett wasn't good or convincing. i think he did just fine, but i also think the script doesn't give a very good reason for him being such a major and consistently present role as opposed to just an intermittent supporting role for the protagonist. the viewer doesn't feel the need to empathize with him, and i think it has more to do with the script than his performance.

Good. A little slow but good.

A pretty good true crime flick with a great emotional ending.

It was an enjoyable movie and well presented. Josh Hairnet did a good job.

There's none of the haunting terror of Midnight Express, which was based on the true story of an American who is jailed for life in a Turkish hellhole for smuggling hash and makes plans to escape unlike the junkie in the film under review who is resigned to his lot. It's not as if Thai jails are idyllic like their beaches, but the titular character suffers for several years and would have probably rotted in prison if the parallel protagonist, journalist Victor Malarek, hadn't uncovered the inconvenient truth. Well casted and period correct

Good setup, poor follow through

An all around great low budget film than needed a little more punch. Newb filmmaker Daniel Roby wrote, produced and directed this true-events film. Everything was on point, and although I'm not a fan of time-shifting stories, Roby did this well enough, that the somewhat slow pace didn't make the 125 min runtime feel long at all. It was a great story that needed to be told, and although told well enough, imo, it could've used a little Hollywood punch to elevate it. The casting was good and the performances were convincing. It was shot well, with an excellent score, and the sets and cinematography fit the timeline perfectly. Roby should be very proud of this little gem. Don't go into this one expecting a big budget Hollywood-style action thriller, but more as a well put together docu-story that should be seen. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.

The buildup to what ultimately happens in this case is interesting to watch but eventually it becomes a long and tedious journey that tries to throw in every detail of the story while the character portrayal of Daniel Leger becomes muddled. Casting Jim Gaffigan as Glen Picker is probably the best thing about this film.

All of the elements and characters are here for a truly gripping first-rate crime thriller, but the film testifies that the makers didn't know what to do with the pure gold they had and lost track of the story's power. Gaffigan, Hartnett and Pilon are absolutely brilliant -- shocking good casting. I've never seen Pilon before and he's impressive. Gaffigan turns in a character I never dreamed he is capable of. Hartnett takes a run-of-the-mill crusader and makes him interesting and understandable. This trio brings real depth. Unfrotunately none of the agents sees beyond the surface of their characters, and zero of the Thai players are developed. One of the best things about the movie is that the stupid shaky hand-held camerawork of the first half -- much of it unnecessary, sea-sickening and pointless -- mostly stops for the second half.