And by this I'm not only talking about the budget (which seems to be a big concern for another reviewer), but also about the story of the movie. Sometimes there is more to a story than the first glimpse reveals. It may feel like the movie tries to cheat its way into the viewers mind a little bit, but the actors make up for it.This is still a tough watch, because the title is chosen for a reason. There is not always reason to things happening in the movie and it seems a bit like a muddle from time to time, but it's still able to hold up a certain degree of suspense, if you let it to. The actors try their best to divert from some holes in the script (or finished movie, if scenes got deleted for pacing reasons) and the movie will be explicit in depicting violence to a degree.

Trigger Warning(s): Torture ScenesWhen it comes to some actors, there is just a go to style which seems to fit them well. For Will Smith, it is the likable and approachable Black guy; Denzel Washington, as of late, recycles his Training Day persona; and then there is Forest Whitaker who usually plays off putting characters. This one is no different but, with a character which reminded me of Kathy Bates in Misery, the question is whether his portrayal as Angel was good, or just another awkward character of his to write off?Characters & StoryA man with mental issues named Angel (Forest Whitaker) has lost his mom; his wife, to a point; and now all he has is his house and daughter. So needless to say, he is troubled. But there is one man he believes can help him: that man is Tommy Carter (Anthony Mackie) whose self-help book dealing with his brush with death seems to have had a profound effect on Angel. But as Angel reveals his demons, Tommy finds himself facing off with them and his own which involve wife Maggie (Sanaa Lathan), as well as Ben (Mike Epps). Leaving us with a film which makes it seem that Tommy may have taken on Angel's problems a bit too lightly.PraiseAs always, Whitaker playing an unnerving character just fits. It pretty much has been his signature, to me anyway, since Jason's Lyric in the 90s. And in this movie he is not only off putting, but a bit frightening as well. Arguably, Whitaker could probably play, with the right script, an iconic fictional villain again and perhaps set a precedent people would be trying to match for years. Though, it should be noted, the rest of the cast surely isn't slacking. Mackie hold his own against Whitaker and does attempt to compete for intensity. But you can see Whitaker's veteran status definitely gives him the upper hand.CriticismWhen it comes to the story though, it does require you to be a tad bit open- minded. For one, Whitaker as Angel is so off putting that it is hard to understand why Tommy would allow himself to be alone with this man. Then, when you add in Lathan and Epps' characters, you see a side-story there which isn't fully cohesive with the main story. For one, it doesn't act well as a break between Angel's mad moments, nor does it really draw you into either Lathan or Epps' characters fully. And two, as much as I understand they are there to beef up Tommy, neither character is written, or maybe portrayed, to the point you really care about them. Lathan's character, to me, barely evolves past being a shallow love interest. Then with Epps, who honestly I am just not fond of as an actor, not only are you given this brash and utterly unappealing character, but the attempt at giving him a proper back-story to draw sympathy out of you just feels utterly weak.Overall: TV ViewingThough I am not highly fond of either Lathan or Epps' characters, their place in the film hardly takes away from Whitaker and Mackie's story. If anything, Epps and Lathan are like a pickle which comes with your burger which wasn't asked for. But overall I am labelling this as "TV Viewing" since even though I like Whitaker and Mackie in this movie, honestly neither pushes the story to a place where it makes this "Worth Seeing." It is decent to spend some time with, especially if you are a fan of anyone involved, but this surely isn't the highlight of any of their careers. Just another film and another paycheck.

This movie had lots of potential but fell short. Still worth watching but I was disappointed. Forest Whitaker was amazing as expected but the rest of the cast was mediocre. Honestly I felt it wasn't so much bad acting...more bad casting. Tommy Carter played an intellectual therapist/life coach which made for some border line soap opera acting scenes. Mike Epps acting was fine but again wrong guy for that role; he's a comedian not a tough guy ex-con. Many reviewers mentioned this is a tricky, twisting, confusing movie...I have no clue what they watched. Between the trailer and the first scene I had the basic plot figured out which left to real no jaw dropping surprises. The ending was meant to be thought provoking but it felt more like a bad ending to a book. So much untapped potential, so many relations left unexplored.

. . . to a shovel fight, and movies teach us that few people use conventional weapons (such as revolvers) in Louisiana. Pipes, power tools, and cloth sacks full of broken shards of glass are among the tools of the torture trade for the vengeful Angel of REPENTANCE, ably played by Forest Whitaker. Going off his lithium to better juggle his responsibilities as a single dad, carpenter, and serial kidnapper, Angel proves the adage, "If you want to feed old ladies to the gators in the bayou, first make sure they don't have relatives." Angel proves to be "crazy like a fox," inducing one of the killers to off himself while he still has enough pieces left to do the trick. The guiltier brother is last shown facing a fate too grisly for the cameras to dwell upon: days of cannibalizing his true love, followed by weeks of starving to death in Angel's basement bomb shelter. The lesson REPENTANCE teaches us is that the "self-help" industry is a crock. No one needs a "life coach." Everyone can find salvation inside their own heads (and if you want to have a REAL "near-death episode," just try throwing a random old lady off a bridge in Louisiana's "Voodoo Alley").