Review of State of Grace (1990) by Tony P — 13 Aug 2007

This just proves that it doesn't matter how stellar the cast or how cool the script... poor direction can drain a movie. The same can be said about the editing. The finale, which may have seemed clever 18 years ago, is bland.

Luckily Sean Penn is tolerable... doesn't do too much over-acting. But Robin Wright sure as hell does. Whatever good that manages to escape from the shadows of the cliche is derived from Gary Oldman's brilliant characterization.

There are a handful of really great scenes that are only really great because of Oldman. Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Robin Wright, they all fade away when he's on screen.