The Kane Files: Life of Trial (2010)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Instant Favorite.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Action is OK but unless you don't mind the FBI 'hero' brutally assaulting a victim of the underworld, for some daft effort to put some crook away, and a good deal of plot nonsense, then I'd give it a miss. We have a policeman trying kill his sister because of what her hijacker told her and much other nonsense.

Good storyline. I decided to check this out as Drew Fuller (Scott Kane) won best actor so it couldn't be too bad. The first scene is actually time wise at the end of the movie and the third scene is the actual beginning. Flashbacks and jumps in the time line as well as half scenes completed later brings mystery into it as well as miss guidance, leaving you wondering. Scott is a character one can feel for, being a father just trying to save his son, no matter what the cost. Speaking of costs the mixed loyalties and alliances also leave you wondering who's helping who?, plus Scott doesn't have it easy. Drew does an amazing job of displaying emotions in his eyes and vocal intensity and you can't tell he's faking the pain his character is in. He seems caring and is reluctant to kill again until his wife is in danger as well as his son. All around great movie besides a bit of language here and there and a few brief, nothing shown steamy scenes, as well as violence.

How many times have we seen the theme that an ex-convict is drawn back into crime when his child needs an operation? This theme has virtually become hackneyed.When his young son needs a heart transplant, the guy goes to the underworld and is soon betrayed by them. We see a crooked police officer at the forefront and our hero is bloodied throughout the film by the gang and others on the police force.As the FBI man, William Devane paints a conflicted picture. At one part, you actually are led to believe that he is part of the widespread corruption.The ending is an absolute enigma. Why couldn't the guy be exonerated? Why must he be on the lam while his son thrives on the swings with his mother?

The good:1. Very good opening scene, followed by a good second scene that doesn't follow from the first, but fills in some missing earlier information. Then the third scene actual begins telling the story. This revealing through layers works well for the film and sets things going at a good pace with action and intrigue. 2. There is some good acting in this movie. Ethan Embry's performance as a cop is excellent. William Devane playing an older, smart and crafty FBI agent, other than a couple bad lines, was also very good. My favorite was the small role by the young son played by Ethan Mouser.The bad:1. There is some not so good acting in this movie. In general the film lacks emotional development by the key actors, and has some really flat lines.The main character, played by Drew Fuller, seems always and unrealistically somber (even when he is making love in the shower with his very attractive wife, played by Whitney Able.) Note that not everyone will agree of my assessment: Fuller was awarded 'Best Actor' at the San Diego Film Festival for this role.I also didn't like the role of the villain played by William Devane, I thought it was an underdeveloped character that lacked credibility. The initial setup for the character had potential that seems to have been given up on. Even the setting where we encounter the villain changed from potentially interesting to a place totally uninteresting and incongruent. 2. The plot was predictable despite it's creative telling. Certain key connections in the movie are left hanging. And the end was not fulfilling.The title of the movie 'The Kane Files: Life of Trial' - doesn't really make sense. It could make sense, if at the end we were lead to believe that the story continues, and like the overlapping beginning- that the story we have just watched is only a past part of an existing story that is still going on now, and one that might be revealed in a future 'episode'.3. This movie shares the basic plot premise to the 2002 film 'John Q', starring Denzel Washington, in which parents are are similarly confronted with an inability to pay for their child who needs a heart transplant. In 'John Q', the desperate situation leads the father to also commit a crime. In that movie the father of the sick boy holds the doctor and others at the hospitable hostage. Side by side, 'Johny Q' verses 'The Kane Files'- 'Johny Q' comes out as a better all around film.Bottom line: Decent watchable action movie.I think a better, and or more experienced director would have gotten a lot more from the script.