I found this movie on Netflix streaming movies. It is a rather quiet movie, often seems like not much is happening, but it is an interesting character study and Wes Bentley is superb.It happens in real life, I've seen it on the news, an otherwise honorable family man will turn to crime, usually some sort of theft, and we later find out (after he is captured) that he was just trying to make ends meet. This is the essence of this fictional story.Wes Bentley is insurance adjuster Bill Scanlon. But he is a bit too honest for this job, and his employer thinks his adjusters should make it more difficult for clients to collect when they have a claim. He lets Bill go. But Bill has a nice home in the Albuquerque area, plus a wife and two young sons.Bill is too embarrassed to tell them, he continues to appear to go to work while trying to figure out ways to keep away foreclosure and loss of his car. He resorts to pawning what he has that is most valuable.Sinking deeper into a funk Bill takes the gun he had saved from his dad, a former police officer, goes into the desert to contemplate his options, it seems he is even thinking suicide might be the answer. But he doesn't and wanders over to a new housing complex to find water. It is mostly deserted but as he wanders around a model home hears noises and walks in on a couple, not married to each other, having loud sex in a side room. Startled and seeing a gun in his hand they began to ask him not to shoot, they offered Bill all their money, and tell him "No one can find out about this." Bill was bewildered, he wandered into theft quite by accident, but it gave him an idea. This might just be his ticket out of debt, at least until he gets a new job.The story is well-written and authentic. Vinessa Shaw who plays his wife Susan Scanlon begins to get suspicious. As does new friend Jason Isaacs as detective Frank McTiernan, who it seemed had quite accidentally met Bill at a bowling alley but in fact had known about Bill's dad.Good movie, better than its rather low IMDb rating might indicate. Wes Bentley is just super in this role and it makes one think "What would I do if I found myself in that situation?" Bill never started out to be a thief, he just stumbled into it. But where will it lead and what will it end up being? SPOILERS: Soon some other man gets arrested and charged with the thefts that Bill had done. Being basically a good and caring person he wanted to do something to help, he even looked up the man's house and was going to leave a gift. But McTiernan by that time had pretty much figured out it was Scanlon and gave him some advice. Bill managed to let it go, later we see him as a real estate agent and he is showing a home for sale. He has gotten back on his feet, but as he later drives through town and stops at a light, he sees the police station across from him, the movie ends as we assume he is still mulling over whether he should admit to what he has done.

I saw this available on Netflix a little while back, and it looked to me like one of those countless direct-to-demand B-movie releases, but this film actually turned out quite good.Wes Bentley, who I read had taken an absence from acting due to a drug habit, returns to acting as a family man and insurance claim investigator, who upon losing his job turns to a life of crime. He befriends a detective played by Jason Isaacs ("The Patriot"), who I had to look up to remind myself who he is. He is quite good in this as well- gives a very subtle performance as a flawed, yet decent man, trying to do the right thing in a world that makes that difficult.Now I will say this about this film. Possible *SPOILER*. I actually expected much greater catastrophe than what actually ends up going down, and thought that maybe the director should have went down that path a little more, but overall, I enjoyed this film. If you're expecting an action-packed thriller, this is not the film for you- it's much slower- moving and more thoughtful. And kudos for a nice return-to-acting performance from Wes Bentley- I always liked his style; especially the way he can be so powerful with the expressions in his eyes. I've noticed this about him ever since his breakout performance in the 1999 Oscar winner, "American Beauty". Vinessa Shaw and Keith Carradine co-star.

The film's poster convinces us that what we're about to see is another ordinary action film, with touches of an empathic and gripping drama destined to make us support the main character's actions. Don't be fooled by that image. "After the Fall" is a good drama with small portions of action, and the latter isn't all that compelling or exciting. Wes Bentley stars as a desperate man who takes extreme measures after losing job and being unable to take care of his family, surrounded by debts after debts. His only option: committing crimes, mugging the residents of his small town. On his trail there's a decadent detective (Jason Isaacs) who is trying to catch this new suspect who appeared in town all of sudden, but they barely knew they would cross paths early on and become buddies who are stuck in saddening times, with their personal crisis and just trying to find a way to live their lives.More artistic than entertaining, "After the Fall" treats its themes by appropriating itself of some of Terrence Malick's techniques - though more conventional to mainstream audiences - with the use of the main character's narration remembering the lovely times he had with his family in their big house and their pool, describing the love and care he had for his wife and kids; and also appropriates of some "Breaking Bad" elements, without ever getting on the same level of greatness. Mr. Saar Klein's debut as director comes across as simple-minded, clichéd yet manageable and interesting due to the performances of Bentley and Isaacs (who steals the show, this time without playing the villain). Bentley was a decent anti-hero, you get easily involved with his obstacles, and enjoy each time he tries to help people in worst conditions than him (like the female cashier - but hey at least she has a job, awful but still), almost getting close to being a hero (helping the old man who spotted him before a robbery at a drugstore).And if the movie loses points is because of its lack of alternatives and unusual conceptions. Why the lead character never, at no point, tries to get another job? He's stuck in that weird business, still trying to impress his former boss when he's no longer part of the company in ages. That part was really strange. And since when stealing pocket money from other people can be enough to make one rescue his taken car? He survives from stealing to stealing, and it's all very unconvincing. I won't even mention the solution given at the conclusion which the writer simply fast forward with a plausible explanation. Here's another modern treaty about the swifty American dream; there's always crisis and always unexpected solutions but family always comes first. Even though you're about to lose them. 6/10

Enjoyable throughout, each character is portrayed with quality and skill, even those with small rolls enhanced the film with realism.Cinematography, direction production, all very skillful, although I can't claim to understand everything, particularly the Coyote and the meandering shots of wilderness on the horizon. Thought provoking and challenging, the film continues to ask questions long after the final credits roll.*slight spoiler* The main characters journey through conformity through liberation, and then ultimate responsibility is a refreshing change from the all too often one dimensional 'stars' today.