The movie centers on Sonny, a once successful small businessman who lost his fortune and becomes a drug addict. Sonny takes on a dangerous underground criminal ring in his small Southern town to retrieve a stolen pendant he believes can save his marriage.
Mr. Trammell's drug-induced stammers and tics don't by themselves add up to a compelling portrayal, nor is this drama of the down and out at all gripping.
If there were Oscars for Best Performance in a Movie Academy Voters Wouldn't be Caught Dead Watching, Trammel's performance would be a lock for a nomination.
Even when all the puzzling pieces of Sonny's existence don't quite fit, Trammell's beautifully unhinged performance offers a compelling vision of a grieving narcissist burrowing into the rabbit hole of his own mind.
Filmmaker Tim McCann, star Sam Trammell and superb cinematographer Alan McIntyre Smith elevate a low-budget crime drama to an elegant, if repetitive, character study.
Trammell carries the film with the physicality of his performance as the jittery, panicked Sonny, exerting a tremendous effort to contain his rising desperation and hysteria.
