Not sure what to think

I like Paul Bettany very much as an actor, in fact it was his role as the doctor in Master and Commander that made me enjoy that film so much more than Russel Crowe. As far as directing I am not really sure. This film was decent, but some style elements didn't do much to add to anything & I felt the film was trying to be more artsy than needs be.

As far as the characters I really liked both performances. Jen Connelly was stellar as always although she looked like crap and I am left wondering just how much weight she lost for the role. Being able to see every tendon in a persons hand is probably not a good thing. Anthony Mackie did a great job as well. I've only ever seen him in 8 Mile as Papa Doc, but his accent was so excellent I had to check his IMDB page to see where he was born.

Overall I think its a solid 7/10, but not something I think I'll feel compelled to watch again. What I felt lacking was the frustration of homelessness and anger over the social systems inability to adequately help either character. The characters really do seem to cope too easily and take setbacks with kind of an oh well attitude. I might've taken a page on that topic from something like John Q or The Pursuit of Happyness, two movies I feel that express that outrage very effectively.

“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”