When Rodney Baze mysteriously disappears and law enforcement doesn't follow through fast enough, his older brother, Russell, takes matters into his own hands to find justice.
Affleck, Dafoe and Harrelson all do their very best to whip up a storm, but Cooper is guilty of wasting A-list talent on a B-movie revenge scenario.
A self-important economic parable about burnt-out men, delivered with all the freshness of Bono popping up at a president’s birthday party.
A quality production, with awards-bid performances from Bale and Affleck to prove it... but, as signalled by the curiously unmemorable title, it flounders while trying to come up with a story to embody the things it wants to say about the sorry state of modern America. Worth seeing, but a near-miss.
It’s atmospheric but under-plotted and has little to say beyond the obvious.
A strong first half gives way to genre predictability.
Christian Bale’s earnest, emotional turn sustains a thriller that throws a few mean jabs but staggers towards a punch-drunk resolution.
It's a picture with weight – perhaps more weight than bite.
There is a smouldering intensity here even at the moments when an overcooked plot make no sense at all.
Even when the writing is unexceptional, Cooper maintains a sympathetic eye for those hardscrabble lives lived amid the peeling paint, rusting metal and faded dreams of the steel town's post-industrial decay.
Though the film constantly teeters on the brink of melodrama, Cooper never lets his cast boil over or the story get away from him.
Even when the narrative shifts into wanton melodramatic contrivance, the score keeps us grounded in recognisable human emotions, counterbalancing the breast-beating with a gently pounding heart, easing the machismo with a plaintively melodic balm.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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