Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

rdoyle29 I think this film is garbage. I'll be clear ... it's a competently made film with a mostly talented cast, but the story is really stupid in the laziest way possible. All the characters are one dimensional stereotypes and they inhabit a plot that strains to reach mere implausibility.

swicinski I finally sat down to watch this. I'm not big into 'lawyer' movies, and this plot never made much sense, but it got three stars on the tivo, so I said "sure, why not". First off, to be clear, I never read the book, nor have I read any Grisham novels.I never got the plot. Kid somehow finds out 'important' information, but won't tell anyone. Sounds, um, reasonable, sure. He then races to find a lawyer (and he doesn't trust lawyers) in order not to say anything. And I'm still not sure what the lawyer did for him, except get his family out of Memphis (which the DA should have been doing immediately).I couldn't stand ANY of the characters! Mark Sway just swore a lot and didn't have a clue what he was doing (and some people call him the 'hero'!). Not sure what Reggie the lawyer was trying to protect the boy from, for she seemed far more concerned over the law then the bad guys.The Barry 'the Blade' character made me wonder whether he was some guy who was posing as a mob killer, and thought that's how they dressed and acted. For he seemed as far from realistic as one could get. The cop that finds Mark has got to be one of the worst cops in Memphis. Kid finds body, you think he's hiding something. So the obvious way to get him to talk? Of course, try to scare it out of him! It always works!The federal agents seemed to be about as inept as possible. The DA made me wonder why anyone would pay attention to him, let alone the media. The family is in the hospital under police watch, but there's a detective down the hall watching the room? How does that happen? Speaking of the media, how about the supposed newspaper reporter. Taking pictures of the kid in the hospital room? Really? And the newspaper not only gave out his name, but printed a big picture of him?Finally, this is all about 'finding the body of the senator', but they never explained WHY that was important. A body is just a body. Sure, it can show the senator is truly dead. But not once did we hear "If we can find the body, we're sure to find proof that the blade did this!". Let alone, why would they think they could find it? Had they ever found any of his other victims? And did those not help send him to jail?Oh, and I didn't even get to the part where they go to NO to find the body for some insane reason. Anyone who thinks this is even a good movie needs to watch some good movies. Watch the Shawshank Redemption, and then watch this, and you'll see what I mean.

margiedempsey333 Lots of overacting and horrible fake Southern accents. A bit of ridiculous stuff in an otherwise good movie. Why can't they find Southern people to play these parts? Why do they insist on using actors and actresses that probably have never been to the South? We don't talk that way down here. We just DON'T! Watching it threw me off. The only real diction and pronunciation was the black judge; he was great. Real. Watching Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones act Southern is painful. I have to go on because I'm supposed to write at least ten lines of content but we Southerners don't need to rattle on to make a point. The bottom line for Hollywood: hire Southern actors to play Southern-based roles!

arieliondotcom I was hooked from the start when, because of the great writing, acting and directing, I felt concerned about the characters even though I knew they really weren't in danger because they were the crux of the movie. And that pleasant surprise continued right to the end of the film with its clever writing that had me alternately enthralled or chuckling (appropriately) at plot twists. Another pleasant surprise was that it had a PG-13 rating. Aside from the rough language many teens actually use, there was no unnecessary gore, sex or violence. Ironic given the Mafia plot line. You get the point & feeling without the unnecessary graphic element most other directors would go for.I suspected it would be a great movie with Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon in it & I wasn't disappointed. The one deduction was for some obvious plot holes.The shattering information that the lead died as a teenager in real life of a heroin overdose just makes it more of a tragedy that his talent is gone. But he did himself proud with this, his debut.