Customer Reviews

The Lesser Evil

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie is a really good movie. It is about four friends who when they were younger make a mistake and now in adulthood have to cope with it. It mainly revolves around Marc Worden's and Arliss Howard's character Ivan. Both did an amazing job in this picture. This movie has two sets of cast, the younger characters, and the older characters. All actors did great, especially the emtional scenes. I give this movie 5 stars for being original and having good actors to pull it off, definately recomend.

This film was one of the best I've seen of its kind in quite some time. This is a psychological drama about four friends, who 22 years ago unintentionally committed a double homicide and then successfully covered it up. Now the police have discovered one of the bodies and a gun they can link to one of the four. The story unfolds as the friends, who haven't spoken since the event, come together to decide how to handle the situation. Throughout the drama, the story flashes back to the original story when they were teenagers, so you really have two suspenseful interconnected stories unfolding simultaneously.

The film shows the twisted judgments made by desperate men in a crisis situation. It was difficult not to be asking oneself, `What would I do in that situation?' I really only had one plot criticism and that is why did the police not ask about the destroyed TV set? If you see the film, you will know what I mean.

The film was excellent in almost every regard. The story was gripping with numerous plot twists that kept the viewer guessing as to what would happen next, all the way to the end. The portrayals of these frantic characters on the brink of distraction, desperately trying to come up with a solution that would keep them out of jail was riveting. The direction and photography was very good, without the need for special sets or effects.

The acting was terrific. Colm Fiore was outstanding as Derek, the owner of the gun who was being questioned by the police. He plays a character who is simultaneously terrified, despondent, angry and devious and switches back and forth between these states flawlessly. David Paymer gives the best performance I've seen by him to date as the underhanded lawyer trying to shift blame away from himself. Even Tony Goldwyn, who often comes off a little stiff, gave an excellent performance.

The acting by the young cast was also marvelous. It was a commendable job by casting and director David MacKay to find four actors who resembled the older actors so much and still had the talent to play their parts so convincingly. Of these, Marc Worden who played young Ivan was a particualar standout.

MacKay's best accomplishment was his ability to convincingly draw the right emotional mix out of the cast. The hand held flight scenes in the woods were well done and enhanced the dramatic effect. There was one scene with George (David Paymer) brandishing a hand gun that was done with a wide angle lens that was a bit amateurish (it made it look like he was holding a howitzer), but otherwise the camera work was well done with visual perspectives that enhanced the impact of the scenes.

MacKay's weaving of the two stories (past and present) in post production was masterful and kept the film moving at breakneck speed. Just when you needed an explanation to put some present event in context, there was the next flashback, as if the director anticipated the questions the viewer was asking himself.

Overall, this was a taut, well crafted film. It was great to see a low budget independent film with so much entertainment value. I gave it a 9/10. Hunt it down and find it. You won't regret it.

Four old friends reunite due to an urget plea. The police have found evidence that reopens a forgotten investigation. Now, after several twists and turns, someone is going to die, and take the fall for tragic events that happened twenty years before.A solid cast takes us through the story of what makes and breaks a friendship. The film effectivly uses flashbacks to throw us to the 1970's, where we meet a group of high school boys and then lets the violent events slowly unfold there. This is juxtaposed with the present situation involving the effects of the police investigation on our now grown-up foursome. A low budget does not hurt this intelligent film and it comes off without many rough edges.It had me guessing right up to the very end.

David McKay directs perhaps 1998's most underrated film. A film that headlined several film festivals yet never was widely distributed. Don't miss out on this film. Its a great mix of Stand By Me meets the Usual Suspects and the cast led by David Paymer doesn't disappoint. Finally, the assistant to the director, Ryan McNally provides a stellar performance as "guy in car".

The plot was very interesting and was executed very well by the actors that played the parts. I could not figure this one out until the very end.

I was fortunate enough to see "The Lesser Evil" at a Chicago film festival featuring great independent films. It is an intelligent dramatic thriller in which four high school friends are faced with the consequences of their actions. They are all involved in a couple of killings and the film slowly reveals who is really to blame and who should pay for their mistakes. Its also about how people change as they grow up and live with a dark secret. Arliss Howard, the guy who played Cowboy in "Full Metal Jacket" is a priest troubled by guilt. Paymer, who's in just about everything these days, is a bitter lawyer. Goldwyn, who is now making a name for himself as a director, is a cop with a criminal past. And Feore is a trouble maker without a spine. The film has some good twists and while it ties up well, it doesn't do so cleanly for the characters which makes it feel more real. Ultimately its the kind of film that you talk about long after its over.

The Lesser Evil is an apt title for a film that pulls you into the complex moral maze of it's central characters.

Twenty years have passed since four close friends covered up an accidental murder. Now a body has surfaced and no one wants to take the blame. Unfortunately as the police investigation heats up it becomes obvious that one of them will have to take the fall.

By flashing back to that dark day twenty years ago, the film reveals that there was much more to the tragic event than each character ever realized. This shifts their loyalites and allegiances to one another. Treachery and deciet become the order of the day.

Watching the four central characters, is like watching pirhannas in a tank, slowly but surely they devour each other.

An edge-of-your-seat thriller with twists and turns up to the final frame. I was blown away by this independent film about four friends who are thrown together and forced to revisit their past. GO RENT IT NOW!

A prank gone horribly wrong returns to haunt four boys in their adult life.

This movie was really a pleasant surprise. Good story, great acting. If you like stuff like "A Simple Plan", then you'll like this. A real little-known gem.

An intricate plot. A narrative that weaves back and forth between past and present in order to unmask the characters. A moral decision was made twenty five years ago that haunts the ensemble cast. Now they find themselves faced with a similar moral crises as adults. Each characer is both protagonist and antagonist. Ultimately good and evil is defined as matters of degree. An excellent film that left me thinking.