Joaquin Phoenix give a captivating performance as a traumatized man-child - survivor of a violently abusive childhood and the inhuman punishment served up by active military service in the Gulf War. He's found a niche - albeit one that feeds his dysfunctional coping lifestyle - in the form of a "hired gun" whose job it is to retrieve young girls from the depths of hell in the form of child sex trafficking. The film is compelling. The issues are relevant. Explored, also, are the sometimes sickening disconnections between public achievement and dangerous personal traumas.
I wish the film would have provided a bit more commentary on how Phoenix' character went on to process the madness, but, as with other decisions in the film, those realizations were only subtly told to the viewer as images or intimations.
All in all, this is a solid film. Congratulations to everyone involved. Creating a work like this is not easy.
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