Stone (2010)

Fantastic!

A Brilliant Conflict

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I went to see Stone earlier today for an advance screening as Ed Norton is promoting the film at my school next week. Honestly I had absolutely no idea what this film was about going in. The marketing just flew over my head I suppose. I just knew who was acting in it.Stone centers around Jack Marby(played by Bobby D, a welcome sight that he isn't in a Meet the... movie), a parole board officer who does preliminary interviews on convicts who are approaching their hearings. His character has a dark past we're alluded to in an all to short opening flashback, and he is something of a dead individual who is absolutely done dealing with people lying and manipulating him to get the parole board to let them go. We meet him as he nears retirement and wraps up his last inmates. This last inmate is convicted arsonist "Stone" played by Ed Norton who is trying to manipulate Jack into letting him free, even if it means having his gorgeous wife Lucette (Milla Jovovich) pull some strings from the outside.What follows is a great character drama, and the acting in it is phenomenal. It really is. Milla Jovovich stands out the most I think with her character who has a lot to do. I'd personally give her an Oscar nod. Truly though, this is some great acting. De Niro is perfect as the strung out officer, and Norton plays the convict expertly who can express a wide range of emotions and display many motivations.My complaint with the film is that the audience is left wanting more from the story, and not in a good way. We have a short opening flashback of Jack, which shows a disturbed and violent man, that I an all the others who saw it thoroughly enjoyed. But they never came back to that. It presented some interesting back story and hinted a lot, but there is no pay off.That being said, that is my only complaint. I think that the acting here was truly great, and the story might be a bit straightforward, was still thoughtful and pensive and entertaining to watch unfold.I had no expectations, but I thought it was very well done. There was also great editing and sound design, which you'll notice early on. All in all, a good character piece that carries a weak story that leaves you wanting more. There is a lot to enjoy and take in as Lucetta and Stone work on getting him out of prison. Very solid film. Not perfect, but solid.

The first 10 minutes are the best part of the film, then it´s just pointless, weak story, you could skip 20minutes and still not miss anything important.

The movie is great, however do not watch it if you expect something light. I really enjoyed watching Robert De Niro. He is brilliant. When I watched him I felt like I knew how he was feeling and what he was thinking. I understood his dilemmas, frustrations and almost despair. Edward Norton is quite amazing too. The interaction between those two in the movie is full of emotional charge, surprises and twists. I was surprised to find out that movie has only 3 stars on this website. I am guessing people would rather watch something light and entertaining. This movie is quite complicated, it reminds me of another great movie -"Monster's Ball". I loved both.

Stone is nothing more than a bog standard,run of the mill film which has been done time & time again really once you've seen one film like this you've seen them all. The only saving grace for this film is Robert De Niro who out-acts every other person in this film,his talents are truly wasted with this script. Along side De Niro is Edward Norton an actor that to me has always been a poor & very overrated actor but in Stone he is surely at his worst where he plays an predictable character which has been seen in films for years,he plays a prisoner who is so unconvincing its painful. I'm not sure if it is Norton's poor acting or the abysmal script that makes the character Stone just so unbearable. The directing is another low point of this film, the directer John Curran is trying to be smart & clever with his directing of Stone but ultimately ends up with a disjointed mess where at times some of the scenes are just totally out of place. Lastly the religious meaning to the film & the attempts to be profound are so terribly forced its unreal.I give this film 5/10 which is very kind as the film itself is only worth a 3 but I've given it an extra 2 stars simply for De Niro's performance which simply carries this terrible film