VividSimon Simply Perfect

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

liamforeman The main problem I had with this is that the real killer was somewhat obvious from the beginning. Also, it was DEFINITELY obvious by the halfway mark because you know the cast of actors and you're just wondering why the REAL star hasn't had much screen time and when we find out he did by trying to act up a flourish it was like DUH! Other things... I like Ashley Judd, but in this she somehow is elevated to investigator although she has an obvious alcohol problem and looks hung over a lot at work. None of her coworkers or her boss didn't notice? I could deal with her having so many one night stands, but when they turn up murdered, isn't she supposed to be a detective? And if she was concerned she was the killer, WHY would she tell everyone on the force after one lover after another of hers showed up dead?!?! You'd think she'd keep her mouth shut! Also, I mentioned her alcohol problem above, but she seemingly goes into a blackout every time a murder occurs. If you were her don't you think you'd go a little easy on the red wine until the end of the investigation? And, I'm a pretty accomplished drinker, and I know what's enough to buzz me, to get me drunk, and I've only blacked out a couple of times. You think she wouldn't figure out that something was UP with that wine???? Sheesh. So the idea that she was being drugged didn't really occur to me because if I had a few glasses of wine or an entire bottle or two and blacked out I'd still know something was wrong because you know how much does what to your system. So I just assumed that she WAS drinking enough to black out.Andy Garcia has really gotten puffy. I remembered him as being really attractive at one point.In all, it isn't awful, and if you like thrillers and whodunit's it is somewhat watchable. I made it through to the end. Just know that you probably had it figured out just from the cast list from the beginning.

Andrew W MacFadyen From the start this movie has too many echoes of the Dirty Harry movies the characters the direction, the cinematography and the San Francisco locations as result it feels more like a 1970's film than movie made in 2004. As a result it fails to work, it feels clunky and contrived. The main characters fail to in engage the viewer, the plot is hackneyed.

Predrag This suspense thriller features Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd) attending a celebratory party due to her promotion to the rank of inspector and transfer to the homicide department. We are thus introduced to various characters including John Mills (Samuel L Jackson) as her mentor after the death of her father, Jimmy Schmidt (Mark Pellegrino) as her ex lover and a secretive stranger at the bar. After leaving the party she heads to a bar where she picks up a stranger. At work she attends her first homicide with her new partner Mike Delmarco (Andy García) and it transpires the deceased is a former one-night stand of hers. As the bodies of her ex lovers pile up she soon falls under suspicion, especially from one of her new colleagues. Her drinking problem grows and she begins to black out for increasingly long periods, doubting her own sanity. Is she the killer-inheriting the tendencies from her serial killer dad, perhaps it's ex Jimmy who takes his frustration on those that have replaced him, is it the new partner who obviously has a crush on her or is it one of her colleagues with their own agenda.All gave strong performances. There are not very many women out there that can give great performances without using fake long hair and lots of cleavage. Well, Ashley Judd can. The tension built between all three characters was fabulous and some good performances from the supporting cast. The atmosphere of the famous Bay area location of San Francisco was well shot, almost reminiscent of the old Streets of San Francisco and Macmillan and Wife but with a much more interesting plot and better acting.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

SnoopyStyle Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd) is an up and coming San Francisco police inspector after catching a killer. Her mentor John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson) is the commissioner who is also her father's former police partner. She has a dark sexual side and her psychiatrist Dr. Melvin Frank (David Strathairn) wants to dig into her father's series of killings including her mother and himself. Her ex-partner and lover Jimmy Schmidt (Mark Pellegrino) is possessive of her. She get promoted into Homicide with new partner Mike Delmarco (Andy García). She faces a hostile group of detectives. Then she starts blacking out and losing time. Her sexual flings starts getting murdered by a serial killer.It starts as an OK creepy noirish dark vibe. It pushes too hard sometimes but it's not bad. First off, she shouldn't be passing out like she's been drugged. It takes away the possibility that she is actually the one doing the killing. There is a paranoia with that possibility that is completely missing. The audience assumes that she's not the killer. The movie would be better without that assumption. Then the twisty thriller lacks the execution. It's all dark. The mystery isn't there. None of the characters are compelling. It's a thriller without thrills.