A woman returns to the isolated logging community where she grew up, and is stalked by a former cop, who now heads up a criminal organisation in the area that operates above the law. She resolves to take a stand against him, seeking the aid of a retired logger and his sidekick. Thriller based on Castle Freeman Jr's novel, starring Julia Stiles, Anthony Hopkins, Alexander Ludwig and Ray Liotta
Star and producer Anthony Hopkins jumps on the Scandinavian noir bandwagon as it's disappearing over the hill in this strangely vacant thriller set in a logging community in the US Pacific Northwest. Adapted from Castle Freeman Jr's novel, it follows forklift driver Anthony Hopkins, dim hick Alexander Ludwig and scared waitress Julia Stiles as they track down local psycho Blackway (Ray Liotta) to "persuade" him to leave the young woman alone. There are some pungent scenes set out in the backwoods, where Swedish director Daniel Alfredson rises above the workaday in his depiction of lives ruined by bad liquor, worse drugs and sexual degradation. But overall he hasn't found a visual style to match Freeman's abrupt, suggestive prose style. It's the actors who stand out, and they do remarkable things with roles that must barely exist in the screenplay. If Hopkins, at 79, seems a bit old to be playing a guy who works at a lumber mill, it's just one among many aspects of a film that ultimately fails to convince at any level.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Lillian | Julia Stiles |
| Nate | Alexander Ludwig |
| Lester | Anthony Hopkins |
| Blackway | Ray Liotta |
| Whizzer | Hal Holbrook |
| Murdoch | Lochlyn Munro |
| Meth head girl | Taylor Hickson |
| Scotty Cavanaugh | Aaron Pearl |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Daniel Alfredson |
