One gets out of the movie theater with mixed feelings about this film of Michael Winterbottom. It is one of those films that really immerse you in their story which is totally convincing. The tag line at the beginning of the film “you live in a small town and the people think that they really know you” is a tip for the main character, a town’s sheriff who is like a bomb ready to explode. That person’s mind is revealed step by step by his actions in the present and flash-backs in the past that shaped his character.
The film is a remake of a 1976 film with the same title, based in a novel described as “one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written.” It is a statement about how cleverness and sanity are two independent qualities, how things that happen to a small age can really damage a personality, the extent to which love (or is it depending sickness?) may be forgiving, the dirty sick tricks played even in small societies.
There is extreme, shocking violence in this film, which is integral part of the main character and justifiably presented. You may want to consider it before seeing it.
My rating: 08/10
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