The actors' striking honesty brings authenticity even to the film's obviously pointed moments. Roberts is terrific as a loving, protective, terrified mother. Her chemistry with Hedges is riveting, and he gives a strikingly raw performance as a young man determined to get his life back, one day at a time. But he also feels he deserves to be punished for the things he did, and his guilt is eating him up. "I am not worth it," Ben tells his mother, but for her he obviously is worth whatever she can give.

This is a powerful exploration of the push and pull between parent and child. As one grieving mother (Jones) says, "We can't save them, but we have to try." These darker personal moments are far more powerful than the thriller subplot that churns up around the characters and takes over the film. Fine acting and sensitive filmmaking carry the audience through, but a deeper focus would have made it much more involving.

themes, language, violence

7.Mar.19

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