A take on classic tragedy, including stage acting with overly rehearsed reactions and responses. The first half is so hurried with nervous editing it feels like the recap of an entire season of some television series. By the time of the pivot point it's already exhausted. The entire second half the nerve is forced and not there anymore and the entire thing marches dutifully into the finale you'd expect from the start.

I’d say the only saving grace of this movie is its cast, but even they suffered from stilted dialogue and what is generally poor direction. Ewan, Colin, and Hayley are generally very talented actors but in this their performances come off as forced and unconvincing. The writing wasn’t very natural and the motivations of Terry and Ian just didn’t feel very convincing. They also didn’t have great chemistry as brothers. I was willing to forgive a lot but the ending was the worst part. You wait the entire movie for the payoff and it’s over so quickly and without any satisfying closure or poignancy from any of the characters. It felt like it took its sweet time getting to the point and then hit the end of its runtime. A disappointing watch.

This is a fabulous departure for Woody Allen. I am a huge fan of the man's movies, and he is best known for his comedy, romance, and drama, but here we have a crime drama that is unrecognizable as his work. Now, Woody has made another movie similar to _Cassandra's Dream_: _Match Point_. However, this one just hits differently. It's easy to fit it into the crime-drama category, but it feels more like a modern Greek tragedy. The characters are fully fleshed out, and not a moment feels far fetched, in terms of the choices that are made. All of the actors do a splendid job, but this is mostly about Farrell, and McGregor. If I were to recommend this movie to someone, and they said they weren't into Woody Allen, after I was done slapping them, I'd assure them that this it nothing like his other movies, and then likely slap them again. A simple, but gripping story. I'm not going into spoilers here. The less one knows going in, the better.

While I have enjoyed some of Woody Allen's  recent ventures such as Match Point and Vicky Christina Barcelona, this one seemed a little bit stale. As with many of his other films you kind of wait for the payoff at the end. You definitely get it here but the whole movie seems to be a bit... underwhelming. I enjoyed the performances by Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell.