Review of The Penitent Man (2010) by S G — 08 Jul 2012

I really wanted to like this, but there was just so much cheese. Great handling of timeline and good pace revealing the details, but everything was revealed in a bit of a heavy handed way. It is quite rare to see an American movie without a happy ending (my take).

I dont know if it's Lathrop Walkers acting or the lines he had to deliver, but he came off, to me, as a daytime soap opera actor. Henriksen gave a great performance, but his lines were only a little better.

The relationships between the characters seemed hollow or superficial, like something out of a bad, early 90s flick. Lots of questions remained unanswered and the conclusion was disappointing. I think my biggest problem with this movie is that the subject is so complex and has so much potential, but the story mainly tries to simplify what might be confusing.

You dont always have to spell everything out to the average Joe/Jane. Let people get curious and start asking questions.