The film is about a convicted arson who is still trying to manipulate the parole officer in a plan to secure parole. He tries to secure a different plan by putting his beautiful wife on the path to thorny law.
Hard to believe, but Edward Norton in cornrows is one of the less ludicrous things you'll see in this film.
Chicago Reader
October 22, 2010
You can feel the movie's gears grinding throughout, first in the rote suspense mechanics and later in the ham-fisted religiosity (conveyed through an endless soundtrack of evangelistic talk radio).
The craftsmanship is impeccable as is the acting, but the storytelling is where the movie falls down. And with such a poorly realized narrative, it's hard to be enthusiastic about the many things Stone does right.
