An escape from the gratuitous mayhem, crashes, gun play, torture, nudity, lying, cheating, and sex of many contemporary movies.This movie tells a great story, complete with emotions, situations, and predicaments that most people can relate to. It has a touch of violence and sex, but only in context with the storyline. Forster is superbly cast, and Wahlberg is delightful. The minor actors are believable and credible. Locations are just plain down-home rural America.All the previous user comments are right on target. I can offer only strong agreement. This is one fine movie. Watch it with your loved one or your best friend (or both).

Great film about Eddie (a superb Robert Forster) having to train young upstart, Eddie (Donnie Wahlberg) in the diamond selling biz. Their chemistry is superb. The dialog just crackles & it pulls you right into this film. Of course one knows where the film's headed way in advance, but that doesn't distract from the brilliant acting in this character study. I highly recommend it & i rarely hand out suck accolades easily.Where I saw It: ShowtimeMy Grade: AEye Candy: Both Kristen Minter as Cherry and Sannah Laumeister as Amber drop their tops (and at what may be a first Nikki Fritz as Fran leaves hers covered, heh go figure)

"It's a doggie-dog world," as one of my students once said (who could have been talking about "Amores Perros," I suppose). That's the ultimate, &, as Mr. Creeden said, cynical point of this movie, that begins so wonderfully &, as he also said, gets a flat tire about 3/4 of the way through. Here's how I thought it would develop: our hero, the older diamond salesmen, who's depicted as an honest, decent guy throughout, would reveal the true state of affairs to the police & to his employer, would (true to form in the modern business world) get absolutely no credit for it, would go home utterly discouraged (but not cynical), would be rescued by his lady-friend, & with her, go into the dog-breeding business, where both would be poor but happy.But, no, such an ending would have no appeal for cynical modern folks (did you know that "cynical" comes from the Greek word for "dog"?). So this movie ends where "Sexy Beast" begins.I guess the most cynical (& to me unbelievable) aspect is that we are supposed to believe that this man, who never cheated on his wife during a long marriage (& even during a period of grief after her death), would willfully & merrily cheat his employers' INSURANCE COMPANY (& thereby ALL their other clients, to whom their loss would be distributed). No, it's obvious to me that the scriptwriters lost their way. Too bad, because this movie, destined to be a little gem, was thereby seriously flawed.

Another in the genre of "Average Guys Have Feelings Too". Grainy film, home movie locations, good character roles, well played. The story is engaging, despite its worn character types. Forster as Eddie is perfectly cast and works his minimalist magic. Wahlberg as Bobbie is trying to be Brando at times, but manages to show some range of acting skill. Katie, as played by Bess Armstrong, is well written and adds needed depth just in time to the flat story line. Katie and Eddie end up being just as unethical and immoral as the rest of the blue world they occupy. The twist at the film's end, in my opinion, gives the story a flat tire. A good story, but too cynical.