Thumper threw some serious curves with actors in their mid- to late 30s, which looked their age, still attending high school, or was it prep school? It was a disjointed flick for several reasons, one noted, and another flaw is that the undercover gal, with the pink strands, gave a very sub par performance for a highly trained undercover law enforcement officer, such as digging through a dealer's trash during the day (while he is home), to injecting smack but continually refusing to hit on every joint offered to her. Another bad miss was the so-called "cook," a military veteran, who, while trying to get his VA script filled at some store (VA meds are mailed directly to your home), was told several times that his insurance was no good (there is no insurance for VA meds). While one can not understand why a disabled vet is at a drug store trying to get his VA meds in the first place, it gets worse. During this horrible scene, he obviously stepped right in front of some gal who had been in line, for who knows how long, waiting to talk with the same pharmacist, but she smiles at him as he brushes her aside and presses his clumsy dialogue with the pharmacist for his meds, and as he exits, he and the patience of Job gal, make eye contact, and she continues to smile as though standing in line was so very pleasant. During his awkward tirade with the pharmacist, moreover, he stated a few times that his medical condition was because of the war, stating it was service related, meaning service-connected, which further affirms that he would not have paid a dime, because there is no such animal as having or needing insurance for the medication. VA vets, which he and others affirmed he was in other scenes, don't have "insurance" for their service-connected meds or even their visits, and they don't go to CVS or Walgreens to get it. The narcs exaggerated and poorly portrayed love and sympathy for many of those involved with drugs, was also flat and out of character for any undercover officer. (Undercover or plain clothes officers, feds to lowest levels of government, are the 'best' and are those with many years of experience and being on the beat in uniform.) These are just a few examples of a poorly researched, scripted and produced film. If you want a good one in the genre, see "Drug Store Cowboy," which was not only based on fact but was executed with that strong sense of realism indeed - and it was only released after the real players approved of the production.
... View MoreThere were some aspects of this film that I thought were really interesting and showed glimpses of brilliance but in the end they were often unexplored. The character development itself was my biggest complaint. The main character's family struggle really just doesn't feel invested enough. The thin line between law and criminality, again, glimpses are shown but don't really emphasize but more lightly tread. The law enforcement pressure on their own, and later the circumstances surrounding the characters who are involved in crime was almost frustrating to watch because you are given a tease of how that could have been a major breakthrough, but to no avail.I will say that the setting, characters, and a few individual performances really kept me interested. The guy who played Wyatt ("pornstache") was sort of another level, and he really sold the performance. The main character seemed awkward in the beginning but that (to my surprise) is resolved later on.Overall I'd put this at around 6.5, nothing groundbreaking but some people with a niche for this subject will enjoy it.
... View MoreI actually really liked this movie. I am a U.S. MARINE & the vet in this the drug dealer the cooker if this were a true story really if he ever had any honor through it all away when he started doing what he was doing in this. This movie does go to show what the few & far between good law enforcement officers have to do to try to get the job done even if it means sacrificing themselves & their family & friends. I agree with what the main character said & did in the end though. I read some of the other reviews & obviously they expect in a movie about this kind of stuff a lot more action & high energy but this movie was closer to reality than all those fast paced action & high energy movies about this same type of stuff.
... View MoreI kind of like gritty movies about the drug underworld. This one was just OK. All the elements were there but the movie didn't really do much for me.My main problem is I didn't like any of the characters. Even the protagonist. They all made such dumb decisions. And even the scenes of the protagonist's home life which felt like they were supposed to earn her sympathy ended up just being sad.Not a bad movie by any means. But certainty not a great one. I suspect younger audience might like this more than those over 30. For me the movie was hard to connect with. In a month or so I'll probably forget this movie completely and that is it's worst sin- being unmemorable.
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