The acting was very good - I have always liked Chris Penn when he is correctly cast and he was in this case. Tim Roth can usually pull off over-the-top characters pretty well, making them believable to the extent possible. The problem was in this case is that the character as written was pretty unbelievable: temporal lobe epilepsy combined with absinthe alcoholism is a pretty difficult combination to pull off, and I think the writing came a bit short in doing so.
Still, kudos to all of the actors who put in good performances even if the material let them down. I think what the writer was trying to pull off, something like a "Blood Simple" (heightened realism & small town characters under extraordinary circumstances), came way short of the mark. But it seems obvious that everyone involved tried to come up with something new and interesting and they should get credit for that.
All told, it is worth watching - the supporting characters are worth watching especially: Ellen Burnstyn was a hoot as an underworld character, Renée Zellweger did a good call girl, Rosanna Arquette underutilized as a angst driven wife. I gave it a 6/10.
Still, kudos to all of the actors who put in good performances even if the material let them down. I think what the writer was trying to pull off, something like a "Blood Simple" (heightened realism & small town characters under extraordinary circumstances), came way short of the mark. But it seems obvious that everyone involved tried to come up with something new and interesting and they should get credit for that.
All told, it is worth watching - the supporting characters are worth watching especially: Ellen Burnstyn was a hoot as an underworld character, Renée Zellweger did a good call girl, Rosanna Arquette underutilized as a angst driven wife. I gave it a 6/10.