Remember those action-thrillers Ashley Judd made in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s (Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, High Crimes)? And you really liked that movie where Liam Neeson starred as a retired spy who traveled to Europe to find his daughter after she was Taken, right? ABC certainly hopes so.
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When I saw the trailer to this film I couldn’t get over how much it reminded me of your average Ashley Judd thriller/mystery vehicle (and isn’t it odd how Theron is even made up to like a little like Judd?). Though the film turns out better than I expected, given its marvelous performances, it still gets stuck by the confines of its genre – complete with a head shaking and nonsensical ending.
Former Army Sergeant, and crime scene analyst, Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) is informed his son Mike (Jonathan Tucker) is back from Iraq but AWOL from the base.
Hank leaves home and travels down to look for his son but can make no headway in the investigation and tries to enlist the help of a local cop, Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron). Things only get murkier when his son’s burnt and chopped up body parts are found on the side of the road.
Unwilling to let the Army investigate, and most likely hush up the crime, Emily and Hank work together to try and piece together his son’s last few hours and try to understand how and why his life ended in such a brutal act of violence.
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