If there's a post about this movie, pass it along. I searched the board and found nothing.

I saw posts here referencing the movie so I got around to checking it out and for a debut it's really good. (I'm assuming it's Johnson's first release)

For those of you who haven't seen it, the movie stars Jason Gordon Levitt as the ex-boyfriend of a young girl who was murdered while they both are in high school.

The story is a revenge flick told in modern times using alot of noir tropes - the 'brain' who handles the tasks of research for the detective, the mysterious woman on the arm of the villain with a breathy voice, etc.

The pacing is slow, but the payoff is worth it despite the distracting slow first 20 minutes.

Some of the transitions between scenes and dreamlike moments are really creative, even moreso given the small budget of the movie.

The movie gives a good sense of atmosphere and as the plot becomes more murky and heavy, so does tone of the movie which uses framing and iconography to pull it off.

My only real complaint is that the details were delivered so quickly that I couldn't quite keep a tally of the changes and developments as the story went on. I'm sure if the movie had a real budget they could have redubbed the scenes. Also, some of the dialogue fell flat, especially in some of the scenes between JGL and the woman who wanted him. I don't know if it was a fault of poorly worded dialogue or uncertain direction, but it was a trait that detracted from what was already a really good movie.

Lukas Haas was amazing in his role. He gave the character a sense of genuine charm and accessibility.

<--- Me when my head hits the pillow