A Single Shot

Cast of Characters:

John Moon - Sam Rockwell

Simon - Jeffrey Wright

Jess - Kelly Reilly

Waylon - Jason Isaacs

Obadiah - Joe Anderson

Abbie - Ophelia Lovibond

Cecile - Ted Levine

Daggard Pitt - William H. Macy

Director - David M. Rosenthal

Screenplay - Matthew F. Jones

Based on the novel A Single Shot by Matthew F. Jones

Rated R for some strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and brief drug use

      Sam Rockwell, Jeffrey Wright, Kelly Reilly, Jason Isaacs and Academy Award nominee William H. Macy star in David M. Rosenthal's crime drama-thriller A Single Shot... Uh - what is exactly what Miley Cyrus is willing to do absolutely anything for, Alex.

      One day, while out hunting, John Moon (Sam Rockwell) finds himself at the center of a tragedy. Aiming for a deer, he takes one shot that manages to hit and kill a young woman. He watches her die, then discovers a box full of cash next to her. In a state of desperate panic, he hides her body and takes the cash with him.

      While certainly a spur of the moment decision, we soon see that Moon had his reasons for taking the money. He recently lost his family's dairy farm to foreclosure and he's also in the midst of a divorce battle with his wife Jess (Kelly Reilly). Like the tagline points out though, a single shot comes with a thousand consequences, and Moon finds himself the target of a hunt down from Waylon (Jason Isaacs), who was the boyfriend of that ill-fated girl from the beginning, and he wants his money back.

      Director David M. Rosenthal has stated before that one of his biggest influences in filmmaking are the Coen brothers. Here we get another "An ordinary man, through one circumstance, finds himself in deep and the problem only gets worse and worse" fable that no one does better than the Coens. You can definitely see traces at times of the Coens in A Single Shot. The first ten to fifteen minutes feature no dialogue, yet capture the mood (courtesy of some fine cinematography by Eduard Grau) this film is aiming for perfectly. However, although it aims at being something similar to Coen brothers films like Fargo and No Country for Old Men and the Coen-esque Sam Raimi thriller A Simple Plan, it falls way short of that level. The films suffers from its share of problems starting with Atli Orvarsson's uneven score which is either hitting the right notes or making you go, "Okay, I get the point!!!!". The main problem, though, lies in the number of supporting characters, many of which - aside from two terrific supporting turns from Joe Anderson and Jason Isaacs - don't work as well as they should. Jeffrey Wright has always been a dependable character actor in a number of films, but here he chews the scenery a tad bit more than he needs to as Rockwell's alcoholic friend who shows up near the end to "connect the dots" for him. Plus, if he's that drunk, how the hell is able to string together all these events, no matter how mumbled out they are, so well? The great William H. Macy shows up in a couple of scenes, yet we're never able to understand whether he's good or bad or what exactly his own personal motives with John Moon are, and we don't get enough of the underrated Kelly Reilly (who was absolutely wonderful opposite Denzel Washington in last year's top 10 best Flight). She has some of the better moments this film has to offer, but I wanted more out of her character. One character that works though: Rockwell. He's good here. He's damn good. When isn't he? This man can seamlessly transition from supporting to lead roles, lighthearted to dark comedy, drama to thriller, you name it. Example, see his scene stealing performance in The Way, Way Back earlier this year and compare it with his low-key turn here as John Moon. Rockwell has always been and continues to be one of the most versatile actors in the business for the past ten or so years, and in spite of the flaws this film clearly has, he steps up and gives 110% like he always does.

      I'm still gonna give this a mild rental recommendation simply 'cause of Rockwell's performance. The script is the film's biggest weakness, and it further proves something I believe in that just 'cause you may be a great novelist, doesn't mean you'll be a great screenwriter (Stephen King, I'm talking to you!). That's not always the case, but it is here. Rockwell's great performance, a few of the supporting roles and Grau's beautiful camera work do give some life back into what could've been a dull disaster. It tries to be something greater then it is, but falls somewhere around okay. I give A Single Shot a C (★★½).