I am a military retired veteran. Having lived my young life as a military dependent on bases, foreign and domestic, and then serving for 20 years, in 17 nations, I am very interested in military mystery movies, factual or fictional.Are there any awards for the fantastic casting by the Casting Director? That's where it starts out to be the best! Enough action to keep me glued to the screen, with acting that is believable.Another Morgan Freeman film that I didn't know existed, until it flashed on my screen, on the Escape channel, received digitally, Over the Air, on my home CATV system ($49 outdoor antenna, with a $15 signal amplifier), that receives all the transmitted 80 Digital TV stations.Would not have happened on Cable! Would have missed this great mystery movie! Glad we cut Cable TV in January of 2016, saving $1360+, so far!

I started writing this review at the 3 anticlimax but there were...I can't remember how many more. But what will be remembered is the repetitious melodrama and close ups of Freeman swilling booze, and Jude's tears. As always, even when the story line has almost fainted with exhaustion, Freeman's performance manages to carry you to the end of the movie...there was probably other fair performances, but they are lost among the dull wooden recitals of the others. You really need to have absolutely nothing else to do, like me with a broken leg, to watch this dribble...or perhaps to drink as much booze as Freeman does to make sitting through this movie a little more bearable.

First and foremost, let me put my pants on...Just kidding there... Seriously though, the thing here above ALL else, to me anyway, is that this is an EXPERTLY crafted Thriller in just about every way. Yes, WITHOUT the very gifted hand of this director, then perhaps some of the complaints others have mentioned here might have some merit. But, to me, the fact that the dang film was made SO frigg'n well, kind of excuses some of the more familiar aspects of the movie.Some here have stated that the movie has many 'Cliches'; this couldn't be farther from the truth. True, the story is not hugely original, but the quality of the execution and the acting are absolutely top notch. Jim Caviezel and Morgan Freeman are outstanding. Specifically, the way that the pacing and the scenes are crafted and put together, and the performances the director evoked from the actors are extremely well done. The story is gripping and fully engrossing. The Thriller and legal aspects of it are also most involving.Now, with that said... There is just ONE rather weighty detraction... BUT... and it is a very BIG BUT like Mariah Carey's... In my lowly and wretched opinion, I do not think that it ultimate takes away from the fact that WHILE you are watching the film, your belief is fully suspended and you are completely involved. Also, it doesn't take away from the expert way the film is put together and crafted and the way it is handled; that is pure art. However... and I am NOT gonna be specific here because I do NOT want to take away anything at all from your enjoyment of the film. I will just simply say that it has something to do with when the film is over... That is all I will say...One of the better crafted Thrillers that I have seen in quite a while; I remember when I very first saw it, that I didn't particularly like it. BUT... the main reason for this was that I didn't initially care for the ending (which I allude to above). However, I must say that now, several years later, I MUCH more appreciate the outstanding quality of the film and it's execution in and of itself. And, I now feel that that fact alone greatly outweighs my original reasons for not liking it. Sometimes a movie is made SO dang well, that even after it is over and you may question some of the specific developments in the story, you still come away feeling that it was a good and entertaining film...

I have learned two things watching this movie: 1) If you are fan, focus on the prime and not the beginnings unless you only see the star you support as supportive cast at best if it isn't just in background: As an Amanda's fan, this movie belongs to her beginnings so we don't see her a lot. But she is perfect as the liberal, inhibited young sister.2) America has an extrovert relationship with violence, thus with military that is its legalized form. So she can do movies about wars (Vietnam, Gulf, Cold-war) or the military world (this one for example). In France, all those things are kept hidden under the rug and french citizen are forbidden to watch movies about decolonization, Indochine, Algeria, ... This is the real trademark of my country: no movies on politics, institutions. The facts aren't distributed by movies in France thus it's hard to have an opinion in my country and I don't really think we can call us a true democracy.That's why a movie like this is like a breath of fresh air, above it depicts the "the big mute" (the nickname of the army in France) as well indeed a big mute... However, if the cast is talented and we feel a good chemistry between Jude and Freeman, the movie doesn't really kick-ass. Maybe it's because the classified crimes is a bit too faraway. By the way, for a movie about soldiers,there are paradoxically a lot of cries!