We've seen Welshman Michael Sheen breeze through impersonations of glib VIP Brits Tony Blair in The Queen and David Frost in Frost/Nixon, but who knew his thespian capacity for anger, hurt, and deep despair? Sheen and Maria Bello are great as Bill and Kate Carroll, a long-married, disaffected couple on the edge of divorce whose strangulated lives get even worse when their college-age son, Sam (Kyle Gallner), turns a gun on his classmates, then himself. The Carrolls go on a downward spiral of guilt and self-loathing. Is there an audience for this finely acted, sensitively directed (Shawn Ku) film of unhappiness and sorrow? Amidst the grief: check out Meat Loaf as a right-leaning, ultimately compassionate motel manager.
101 MINUTES | LIBERTY TREE MALL
