I saw this movie on the Streampix Channel, which is the channel where those of us who cannot afford the mainstream premium channels spend our time. The movies on here are mostly forgettable, but this was one of the better ones, and a pleasant surprise.
Excellent cinematography, recreating the atmosphere of small-town rural New England working-class folk. Excellent acting by all the actors and actresses involved.
The theme concerns a smart-aleck high-school kid (Joey) who goes along with his father and uncle (?) and participates in a night-time burglary which goes awfully wrong. The rest of the film deals with Joey's conflict in remaining loyal to his father while observing how the consequences of the crime are shattering the lives of others. The mutually troubled, confrontational relationship between Joey and his Dad is apparent, but also their intense devotion to each other.
The dinner-table scene where Joey and his father compete with each other for the respect of Joey's two little sisters is great. It came out just right, it wasn't over-acted or melodramatic, and it conveyed the family dynamic of restrained, but emotional passion, quite well.
If there's a flaw in the movie, I think it might be the decision of the father and uncle to do away with Tara, which seemed to come out of nowhere. Their decision to kill her to keep her from talking to the police just didn't seem logical. She really didn't know any details of the crime, her threat to go to the police wasn't even directed toward them, and it didn't make any sense or seem to be in character for them. They were small-town crooks, not cold-blooded murderers.
I suppose they had to come up with a reason for Joey to betray his father and uncle, and so they came up with that. In spite of his complicated relationship with his father, Joey was intensely loyal to him, and it would take something very grave to cause him to betray his father's trust. Nevertheless, it seemed to me to be rather contrived, and not in keeping with the rest of the movie.
Still, the movie was a pleasant surprise in the great wasteland of today's television, and was a worthwhile experience.