Tony, written by the director and based on his 2005 short film, is a great example of the disease that "lets the bad guys win", which is plaguing independent films nowadays. In this vain attempt to be edgy, the film follows around socially-inept Tony as he encounters nothing but hostility and gives back nihlistic hate and misdirected retribution. His encounters are far too convenient, although, one would expect someone like Tony to focus solely on moments like these. Tied with the filmmakers' apparent laziness in thinking-through the central character, the film shows an incredibly unrealistic approach to victim struggles. On a similar note, the film claims to be "social realism" yet there is not a shred of human truth in any facet of this film. Furthermore, Tony is peppered with far too many red herrings, which throw the viewer around; leading us in one giant loop of illogic. Shameless-ly (pun on Exec. Producer Paul Abbott intended) exploitative, it provides no answers to so many questions that should have been passing thoughts on the road to a more crafted story. What ever happened to the bad guy going up in a ball of White Heat(1949) making us feel at least a shred of sympathy for them? S

TONY is yet another film in a genre that has been done many times before and, in my opinion, doesn't really offer anything new. The central character, Tony, is a socially awkward loner who is obsessed with action films. He also has a weird physical appearance. Those traits are essentially what make his character, and he's really the only character in the film. Everyone else just exists in his world. What I did like about the film were the few moments in which Peter Ferdinando, who gives an excellent performance, hints at something deeper in Tony's psyche. One scene in front of a mirror was particularly chilling, in much the same way as similar scenes in NIGHTCRAWLER and FOXCATCHER. I also liked the haunting, minimalistic score which adequately conveyed Tony's loneliness, and reminded me somewhat of Philip Glass (whose music I love). Beyond that, it seemed like a typical serial killer film done on a low budget. The cinematography, while digital, was still done well and the camera-work was pretty good too. My major issue with the film is how thinly written it is, such that its 72 minute running time almost feels too long. I guess I just wanted a little more substance. It probably would have worked better as a short film now that I think about it. For what it's worth, the film isn't bad it's just not particularly great either. Peter Ferdinando's creepy performance is probably the best reason for seeing this.

Conflicted about this film. It is well-acted especially by Peter Ferdinando who's spot-on as the emotionally-stunted soft-spoken psychopath Tony. Perhaps if I didn't read the positively glowing reviews for the movie, I would've ended up liking this lil slice-of-(serial killer) life film a tad more. It's not nearly as good as "Henry" a masterpiece that its often compared to and going into this one expecting it to be up on that level will likely be disappointed. However if you approach it blindly, and can get past the admittedly thick accents, then any fan of the sub-genre will still appreciate this one.

This a difficult film to review without giving away too much and other reviewers have already drawn the outline: it's about a killer. An outstanding performance by Peter Fernandino makes it frighteningly believable. It is short, maybe too short; and leaves all sort of questions hanging unanswered.That's also a strength in that it leaves you wondering. If the characters don't remind you, vaguely at least, of people you know, people you've met. or people you've heard about, then you should get out more. Many people go missing - let's hope this isn't what happens to them...