I'm already quite familiar with the movies that feature Nick Nolte and I must admit that I normally always enjoy his movies. I truly believe that he is one of the more gifted actors in Hollywood who should get the chance to play some bigger roles in more important movies. Take for instance this "Affliction". It has been directed by an unknown director and when we are talking about money, than this is clearly not one of the biggest Hollywood productions ever. I wouldn't even be surprised if this movie never made it to the movie theaters over here. I certainly hadn't heard of it before and I only watched this movie because Nick Nolte played an important role in it, but that doesn't mean that it can't be any good of course.
Wade Whitehouse is a police officer / snow plow driver in a small town who hasn't exactly had the most perfect life. As a kid he was always humiliated and mentally tortured by his father and as an adult he wasn't able to save his marriage with his ex-wife Lillian, causing him to lose all contact with his daughter Jill, and his job doesn't really give him any satisfaction or respect. The only person that cares for him is his girlfriend Margie, who accepts him the way he is. When on the first day of the hunting season his best friend takes a wealthy businessman on a hunting trip and that man gets killed in suspicious conditions, Wade decides to play detective and starts investigating the case despite the fact that Jack insists that it was nothing more but an accidental, self-inflicted shot. Gradually Wade finds more and more evidence that Jack lied. But is this really what happened or is Wade gradually losing his last grip on reality?
I must say that the concept of the story is very intriguing and I'm convinced that this could have been an award winning story, if done properly. And that's the problem with this movie. The idea behind it is more than OK, but the execution left me with a double feeling. It just wasn't as compelling and gripping as I hoped it would be. It wasn't bad, but the entire movie didn't completely convince me either. However, the acting certainly hasn't got anything to do with that. All actors did a good job, but Nick Nolte was in my opinion really outstanding. His performance is probably the best reason why you should watch this movie.
In the end this certainly isn't a bad movie and I'm already glad that it is so much better than so many other Hollywood products, but saying that this is one of the best movies ever would be exaggerated as well. I liked the fact that the characters were quite well developed and that the movie tried to be original without impossible explosions or other action shots, but the story wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I give this movie a 6.5/10.
Wade Whitehouse is a police officer / snow plow driver in a small town who hasn't exactly had the most perfect life. As a kid he was always humiliated and mentally tortured by his father and as an adult he wasn't able to save his marriage with his ex-wife Lillian, causing him to lose all contact with his daughter Jill, and his job doesn't really give him any satisfaction or respect. The only person that cares for him is his girlfriend Margie, who accepts him the way he is. When on the first day of the hunting season his best friend takes a wealthy businessman on a hunting trip and that man gets killed in suspicious conditions, Wade decides to play detective and starts investigating the case despite the fact that Jack insists that it was nothing more but an accidental, self-inflicted shot. Gradually Wade finds more and more evidence that Jack lied. But is this really what happened or is Wade gradually losing his last grip on reality?
I must say that the concept of the story is very intriguing and I'm convinced that this could have been an award winning story, if done properly. And that's the problem with this movie. The idea behind it is more than OK, but the execution left me with a double feeling. It just wasn't as compelling and gripping as I hoped it would be. It wasn't bad, but the entire movie didn't completely convince me either. However, the acting certainly hasn't got anything to do with that. All actors did a good job, but Nick Nolte was in my opinion really outstanding. His performance is probably the best reason why you should watch this movie.
In the end this certainly isn't a bad movie and I'm already glad that it is so much better than so many other Hollywood products, but saying that this is one of the best movies ever would be exaggerated as well. I liked the fact that the characters were quite well developed and that the movie tried to be original without impossible explosions or other action shots, but the story wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I give this movie a 6.5/10.