The cold-blooded murder of a wife and daughter rocks a small town. Already accusations have begun to fly about the only survivor of this brutal crime – the father and husband, Eric Chandler (Nicholas Wilder). The public has already started to ostracize him and the police suspect him.
Watching the whole thing play out on the news is a bitter loner named Bucky (Tom Tansey), who lost contact with his own daughter due to his bad habits and is convinced of Eric’s guilt. He determines that the police aren’t doing anything productive and decides to launch his own brand of vigilante justice – namely kidnapping Eric and forcing a confession out of him. Bucky enlists the help of his friend Travis (Norman J. Pfizenmayer III), an introvert who lives with his mother and doesn’t seem to have all of his faculties intact.
As one might suspect, the unlikely pair form a haphazard plan which quickly goes awry.
Perhaps the best word to describe this film is “rollercoaster”. There is some initial tension in the beginning, that slowly builds up to a dramatic climax, at which point the audience might expect a smooth ride, but then something else happens that sends you right back again into the tension. This film continues to surprise the audience – one will likely find themselves guessing as to villains and heroes, but it’s doubtful if they will actually be correct, as all the tension and buildup keeps viewers second-guessing themselves.
There were a few issues that ought to be mentioned, however.
At the beginning of the movie, there is mention of an altercation that took place between Eric and the lead detective, who ended up being suspended because of the incident. With the film’s opening, and the implication of a large media presence around the house, it seems as though this incident would have probably been caught on tape. It would certainly be a good thing to show the audience - especially if it was serious enough to get a detective suspended, a conversation that also occurs early on.
In addition, once the real killer is finally revealed, there isn’t the best explanation of why they actually committed the crime. Clearly there were a few screws loose, and ultimately the revelation of the killer doesn’t seem to be as important as its been built up to be, but it would still be nice to get some sort of better explanation, or even a few very subtle clues along the way
(Incidentally, I’ve been asked by the director not to reveal too much about the ending, which is why some of my wording might seem a bit ambiguous.)
In addition, a videotape that is created during the course of events is absconded with, although this isn’t made as clear as it should have been. I couldn’t tell that there was a tape missing in the shot of the empty video camera, and a close up of the pocket of the individual who took it was a bit too close and I couldn’t even tell what was going on in the image.
