A Single Shot

A Single Shot is a movie that's not going to be terribly thrilling, but it offers a few moments of suspense, a couple of great scenes of drama, and a fantastic sense of place and atmosphere. It has solid actors playing generally underwritten characters, and it contains a dark tone throughout. It's not a great film, but it's a solid one, and you're at all interested in seeing it, I think it'll be worth your time, as long as you're okay without smiling for a couple of hours.

This rides a whole lot on Sam Rockwell's acting ability. The rest of the cast is great, as well, but plot-wise it feels a little bit too disjointed. I liked the dark rural moods, though, and all that suffering and the main character having issues with his conscience. But when it comes to tension, the writing just did not entirely hold up. Great cast all around, though, that saved a whole lot of this script.

Greek tragedy even if it is set in the South and shot in Canada. Ought to get an Oscar for set direction having to haul those trailers all that way up from a Miss'ippi bayou for authenticity. You can duplicate the South'ren mumble, but you'd have to go a mighty mile to trash a trailer proper like that. Interesting story, but the mood was a real downer and the ending sucked.

Don't be fooled into thinking there is much in the way of suspense or thrills here. Like 'No Country for Old Men', it involves a relative innocent who finds something that doesn't belong to him. But unlike that, it lacks any compelling characters, and the violence is smaller in scale, and more horrifying for it. That all makes it more of a chore to watch.

The title is a lie as he shoots at least three times at the beginning. This film had some great acting out of Sam Rockwell but that's about it. The whole film has this quiet boring tone that will put you to sleep. It almost makes you jealous of the girl that gets put out of her misery at the start of the film. I was happy to see William H. Macy, Kelly Reilly and Ted Levine but even their presence didn't help the movie get out of the dark black pit that it had put itself into...

Underrated. Tour de force by Rockwell, yet again. Almost breathable atmosphere. Strong drama with thriller elements, will age like a fine wine. The ending is perhaps not entirely satisfying, but it is a raw mature ending.

I believe that in the end what really saves the day for A Single Shot is Örvarsson's eerie string music. It almost 'makes' the movie. It's one of those movies: I can't really say it's bad, but I can't say go see it either. I mean, it has a lot of tension, but I surely won't watch it again. It really is kind of a new Deliverance, but, unlike Deliverance, it doesn't have much to offer cinema-wise. Nothing would be different in my life if I hadn't watched it. Which I couldn't say about Deliverance

Despite nice photography and a strong cast, this is crippled by a clichéed plot full of holes and coincidences, an overly bleak tone and an annoyingly intrusive Bernard Herrmann-lite score.

Big fan of Rockwell but this is boring and pointless.

Not bad.

Not enough of William H. Macy. The story seems a little underdeveloped and done before. Other than that, a very good film.

The score should have stuck to a single string...

While the basic story reminded me a lot of "no country", it still is an original plot in its own right. It thrives on rockwell's excellent performance and a support cast to match. However, there are some very "convenient" elements and the ending isn't for everyone, but it is engaging and well worth watching! Be advised, i consider myself skilled in american english, but i understood only half the redneck mumblings, the rest sort of sorted itself out. I'd recommend subtitles where available.

Most will probably like it more than I, but the ending & 20 minute dialogue with the guy I couldn't understand took away from it for me

Sam Rockwell is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors.

Slow, redneck crime film; solid cast, but just a germ of an idea for a good film, so there isn't much for them. Some silliness in the script took the rating down a few notches.