I went to see Stone earlier today for an advance screening as Ed Norton is promoting the film at my school next week. Honestly I had absolutely no idea what this film was about going in. The marketing just flew over my head I suppose. I just knew who was acting in it.Stone centers around Jack Marby(played by Bobby D, a welcome sight that he isn't in a Meet the... movie), a parole board officer who does preliminary interviews on convicts who are approaching their hearings. His character has a dark past we're alluded to in an all to short opening flashback, and he is something of a dead individual who is absolutely done dealing with people lying and manipulating him to get the parole board to let them go. We meet him as he nears retirement and wraps up his last inmates. This last inmate is convicted arsonist "Stone" played by Ed Norton who is trying to manipulate Jack into letting him free, even if it means having his gorgeous wife Lucette (Milla Jovovich) pull some strings from the outside.What follows is a great character drama, and the acting in it is phenomenal. It really is. Milla Jovovich stands out the most I think with her character who has a lot to do. I'd personally give her an Oscar nod. Truly though, this is some great acting. De Niro is perfect as the strung out officer, and Norton plays the convict expertly who can express a wide range of emotions and display many motivations.My complaint with the film is that the audience is left wanting more from the story, and not in a good way. We have a short opening flashback of Jack, which shows a disturbed and violent man, that I an all the others who saw it thoroughly enjoyed. But they never came back to that. It presented some interesting back story and hinted a lot, but there is no pay off.That being said, that is my only complaint. I think that the acting here was truly great, and the story might be a bit straightforward, was still thoughtful and pensive and entertaining to watch unfold.I had no expectations, but I thought it was very well done. There was also great editing and sound design, which you'll notice early on. All in all, a good character piece that carries a weak story that leaves you wanting more. There is a lot to enjoy and take in as Lucetta and Stone work on getting him out of prison. Very solid film. Not perfect, but solid.

This movie is about religious philosophy. If you are not into religious philosophy or seeing the raw sexuality of Milla Jovovich then go elsewhere. The movie asks questions about the seemingly contradiction of free will vs. God's will. If God has a master plan, then aren't our wrong doings part of it? If so, should we regret our sins?In what appears to be a role reversal De Niro places a parole officer and Edward Norton a prisoner. Early on we find out that De Niro has some anger management problems. As a child he hit his brother in the head with a hammer and threatened to kill his daughter if his wife left him. He is the parole officer who judges people.Norton plays a convict who started a fire to cover up a crime committed by his cousin. His nickname is "Stone." Stone, according to the new religion of Norton is the beginning phase of a soul. We all start out as stones and work our way up to humans as part of the eternal process. His simple questions and answers cause De Niro to think and examine his own life and religious belief.Milla's religious views come out late in the movie, and they too have an effect on De Niro. Much of the movie consists of various conversations with very little action. The background radio chatter of a religion station sets the mood. If you know how to listen, God will talk to you. Sex, nudity, f-bomb and a few other expletives that surprised me.Milla is extremely sensual in this film: Her eyes, raised eyebrow, lips, smile, mannerisms, nudity, and especially her whispers.

This is the typical movie you watch by chance in TV. There are two great actors (not in their best times) and an interesting actress (Jovovich)and you give it a chance.After the introduction the spectator at least thinks that he's going to watch an indie, alternative film full of deepness and complexity.OK, there is none of them. The plot tries to be complex and you spent the whole time waiting for something that doesn't appear. We don't have to mix a strange, non-clear message with a complex one. About the deepness or the finality of the story, the same. A bit of new age, a bit of cheap psychology, a mixture of religious and ethics content, you mix everything and you get a cocktail from which we get this ridiculous movie.I'm sure that there is someone who will defend this movie because of the characters's ambiguity and something like that, but don't be fooled, the characters personality, actually is very bad written.Following with the acting, the overall isn't as bad as other points of the movie but it isn't remarkable. De Niro is such a genius that even doing the minimum effort he success in being enigmatic but, on the other hand, he's very far from him best moment. However, after having such a great career it's forgivable for a near to 70 years old man to be just the shadow of what he was. It's worse if the situation is the same, but being only 40 and doing the same performance again, again and again... but worse than ever. Very bad for you Norton, I think if you keep on like this, you're finished. Milla Jovovich, on the other hand makes a unexpectedly solid interpretation, congrats for her. If you want to watch a solid psychological thriller, this isn't your movie. This is a bad experiment and a big loss of time.

Maybe I "missed the point" or "didn't analyze the character's actions enough" or didn't go out and discuss the movie with friends over cherry pie. I don't know. Here's what I do know - I was looking forward to this film BIG TIME! I'm a fan of the 3 main actors; and considering what Edward Norton pulled off in American History X (the scene where Norton surrenders to the police, and he's all buffed out/shaved head/goatee... and then does that grin/eyebrow lift... scarier than anything "Hannibal Lecter" ever did!), I was more than eager to see him in another prison movie. But a movie about emotions and redemption and whatnot... some movies pull this off beautifully. I just saw an indie flick called "I Melt With You", and I recommend it for any male out there. A synopsis would sound dumb, but any guy who is reaching 40 and realizes his life isn't what he thought it would be when he was 20 will be able to relate to all 4 main characters. But "Stone"... none of what the characters did seemed at all realistic, and their "personality changes" seem based on nothing at all. Like I said in my title, the movie was incredibly boring, and when it was over, all I could think of was, "What was the point of that??"