It could use a bit more humor, as the few (refreshing) humorous moments make abundantly clear. It could also use better supporting actors outside the “main” ones. But the idea is ingenious, it’s well-written, well-made, Denzel Washington is great (as usual), Gary Oldman is delightfully weird (as usual), and Mila *bleepin* Kunis is the huge surprise…I didn’t expect much beyond (maybe) competence after seeing her accurately play a total ditz on ‘That 70’s Show’, but her character is intelligent, suitably emotional, and very believable.
To complain more, there are periods where it lags…but there are also some extremely interesting scenes and a few surpriiiiiiiiises.
Inspirational Quote: “Put that hand on me again you won’t get it back”
Evil IQ: “You don’t HAVE to understand…*I* understand…”
Grade: A-
8/30/14: It didn’t move me this time the way it has, but I think the above is still very accurate. And I wanted to quote one more time:
Inspirational Exchange:
“…I forgot to, live by what I learned from it.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“Just…do for others, more than you do for yourself. That’s what I got from it anyway.”
Grade: A-