First of all, the name Justin Timberlake alone should've kept me from renting this movie. I went ahead with it because it had Harry Dean Stanton, Sharon Stone, and Bruce Willis in it. Also, Emile Hirsh played Johnny Truelove, a character based on Jesse James Hollywood. Hirsh was the main kid in The Girl Next Door, another pretty cool movie.
I was turned on to this movie by a friend of mine and he pointed out that Nick Cassavetes wrote and directed this movie. I've always liked Cassavetes' work, i.e. Blow. So what the hell? Give it a try?
So I brought it home on Friday afternoon and it sat on my coffee table for a day. This morning, 5/12, I decided to watch it with my morning coffee, bacon, biscuits, and eggs.
Once I got passed the boring ass previews, the message on piracy, and the FBI warning, which I skipped through (Thank God for digital technology!). I was instantly drawn into the flick because I had watched the Dateline special on the original case.
I thought all the acting was superb and I was very impressed by Justin Timberlake's performance as Frankie, Johnny's right hand man. The script was well written; Cassavetes kept the script real and didn't go overboard as he did in The Notebook.
All in all a good movie.
I give it 4/5.