Review of Stone (2012) by Chris W — 07 Dec 2012

This has to be one of the more, I think, underrated films of the past couple of years.

The film is a prison drama centered around a parole officer nearing retirement who gets locked into a psychological duel with a convicted arsonist and the man's alluring wife-both of whom will do what it takes to convince the officer to help make early release possible.

The film is all about control, manipulation, psychological games, and the motifs of religious belief, guilt, and temptation. Much of it is quite well done, but the rest is a little iffy, and could have been handled better, particularly how the narrative is executed.

I do like the performances though, because those are definitely the highlight. Robert De Niro and Edward Norton reteam for the first time since The Score, and they are very impressive to watch, mostly because they are both acting somewhat against type. The really impressive person here though, is Milla Jovovich. She gives a very compelling and convincing performance without ever getting to over the top. It's a real treat to see her in action.

Give this one a chance. It's flawed, but decent and compelling enough to warrant a viewing.