This movie wasn't even released in a very widespread fashion and was made for under 500 thousand dollars. I can appreciate that much of it. However, it is extremely far-fetched in its plot and presentation and I can't help but think that this was the objective and I am just not the right target audience.

The film follows Brendan Frye (played by Joseph Gorden-Levitt) who is a loner high-school student who is having difficulty coming to terms with his breaking up with his girlfriend. Something bad happens to her and he is left with a bunch of clues that leads him down a path to try to figure out what happened (additional details intentionally withheld to avoid spoiling.) The cinematography is good, the acting is solid but there are a few problems that I have with the overall story.

For one thing, It is very difficult to follow what the hell is going on. The situations are so far-fetched and the interactions with other characters almost seems like something out of a dream rather than actual occurrences. This was almost certainly intentional on the part of Rian Johnson who wrote and directed the film. This is years before he wrote and directed the Star Wars franchise into oblivion.

The other problem I have with this movie is that a vast majority of the characters are high-school students. Seeing large group of teenagers that have created a criminal network of drug distribution from their parents' basements is beyond ridiculous in my opinion. Everyone just seems to do whatever they want whenever they want with no fear of authority intervening, including dragging dead bodies around in broad daylight and kidnapping from public parking lots. The lavish parties and wealth / power that these people who probably only recently got a driving license is a sure way to keep my eyes rolling for long periods of time. Also, despite the fact that he is a great actor, Joe Levitt is far too small to be a convincing tough guy and that is precisely what he is portrayed as in this movie.

I actually started scanning through the remainder of the film about 3/4 of the way in. I just scanned through the rest because well, i wasn't enjoying it.

For people that appreciate extremely artsy films this might be for you. I am "neither here nor there" on my opinion of this sort of thing. For me, the movie was too confusing and the characters too young to be believable. I gave a few extra points because they were able to make this thing for so little money and still make it look great.