After the Fall (2014)

Why so much hype?

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

In an age of despair and poverty why is it the film makers continue to churn out desperately sad and lugubrious movies like these I don't know!Yes the film explores what its like to be unemployed with a wife and kids losing your house and the need for some to resort to crime , I have been there myself but its not really the sort of movie I want to be watching.Maybe its just me but i want to come out of the cinema like I used to in what i call the good old days when you came out feeling enervated , uplifted and positive about life.If you are into this sort of depressing , dull and real life scenario then I guess you will enjoy it but for me its too close to home and doesn't leave the viewer with a positive outlook on life, so if you are depressed and sad or your life isn't going well I wouldn't watch this as you may be reaching for the razor!

First off I'd like to point out that the poster is clearly trying to make this look like a action-movie which is so far from what this is.The poster seem to try to sell it as a new 'ASSAULT ON WALLSTREET (2013)' or something, and although there are some similarities between the two (both about 2 down on their luck men that lose their job and their mental state goes on a downward spiral) the approach and resolution is completely different.Won't go into any details but yeah if you're watching it and waiting for some kick ass action to kick off you'll most likely be a bit disappointed.I can't go into details without starting to spoil stuff so I'll just say that the movie-direction is a bit 'dreamy' at times like a little vague, even though the actual plot is fairly simple.It doesn't come together 100% but the good outweighs the bad, Wes Bentley is fairly good but Jason Isaacs is probably the best actor of the film and helps carry the film back up from the ground occasionally by just delivering a natural and charismatic performance.

I found this movie on Netflix streaming movies. It is a rather quiet movie, often seems like not much is happening, but it is an interesting character study and Wes Bentley is superb.It happens in real life, I've seen it on the news, an otherwise honorable family man will turn to crime, usually some sort of theft, and we later find out (after he is captured) that he was just trying to make ends meet. This is the essence of this fictional story.Wes Bentley is insurance adjuster Bill Scanlon. But he is a bit too honest for this job, and his employer thinks his adjusters should make it more difficult for clients to collect when they have a claim. He lets Bill go. But Bill has a nice home in the Albuquerque area, plus a wife and two young sons.Bill is too embarrassed to tell them, he continues to appear to go to work while trying to figure out ways to keep away foreclosure and loss of his car. He resorts to pawning what he has that is most valuable.Sinking deeper into a funk Bill takes the gun he had saved from his dad, a former police officer, goes into the desert to contemplate his options, it seems he is even thinking suicide might be the answer. But he doesn't and wanders over to a new housing complex to find water. It is mostly deserted but as he wanders around a model home hears noises and walks in on a couple, not married to each other, having loud sex in a side room. Startled and seeing a gun in his hand they began to ask him not to shoot, they offered Bill all their money, and tell him "No one can find out about this." Bill was bewildered, he wandered into theft quite by accident, but it gave him an idea. This might just be his ticket out of debt, at least until he gets a new job.The story is well-written and authentic. Vinessa Shaw who plays his wife Susan Scanlon begins to get suspicious. As does new friend Jason Isaacs as detective Frank McTiernan, who it seemed had quite accidentally met Bill at a bowling alley but in fact had known about Bill's dad.Good movie, better than its rather low IMDb rating might indicate. Wes Bentley is just super in this role and it makes one think "What would I do if I found myself in that situation?" Bill never started out to be a thief, he just stumbled into it. But where will it lead and what will it end up being? SPOILERS: Soon some other man gets arrested and charged with the thefts that Bill had done. Being basically a good and caring person he wanted to do something to help, he even looked up the man's house and was going to leave a gift. But McTiernan by that time had pretty much figured out it was Scanlon and gave him some advice. Bill managed to let it go, later we see him as a real estate agent and he is showing a home for sale. He has gotten back on his feet, but as he later drives through town and stops at a light, he sees the police station across from him, the movie ends as we assume he is still mulling over whether he should admit to what he has done.

It's a very difficult movie to sell. Our main character is not really that likable, with some traits that a Hollywood Blockbuster would attribute to its bad guy. But this is not a Hollywood movie, so if you're looking for senseless entertainment, you'd be better off looking somewhere else for that.No this is a character study, which is well played by Wes Bentley. Even though he seems to be pigeonholed into this sort of a role, you still cannot deny his charisma and his power to portray men in despair. His looks/face alone is worth a lot. But him alone is not enough, you need someone like Jason Isaacs to balance all that stuff. Another man with issues of his own, these two men seem to find each other, even without looking. The "friendship" that ensues is not one that seems to have long lasting power though ... but you'll have to watch the movie, to see how that drama and web of lies unfolds ...