In 1989 Texas, meek family man Michael C Hall is hailed a hero after shooting dead a burglar
In 1989 Texas, meek family man Michael C Hall is hailed a hero after shooting dead a burglar.
What follows is a heart-stoppingly tense, cunningly twisty crime thriller adapted from a novel by cult author Joe R Lansdale.
It’s a sweltering summer night when Hall gets up to investigate strange sounds in the home he shares with his wife (Vinessa Shaw) and young son (Brogan Hall).
His fingers slipping on the trigger of his late father's gun, he ends up accidentally shooting the would-be robber. But, while the townsfolk are impressed with his actions, traumatised Hall finds the backslapping acclaim far from welcome and the discovery that the intruder was a wanted criminal fails to put his mind at rest.
Then the dead man's menacing ex-con father (Sam Shepard) turns up in town seeking vengeance...
At this point you may feel confident about what happens next, but things don't turn out as you might expect. Director Jim Mickle and screenwriter Nick Damici send the story down so many unforeseen, body-strewn paths that you will be continually wrong-footed.
Police corruption and organised crime are involved, as is Don Johnson's strutting private detective, who turns up in a flashy red Cadillac and equally flashy cowboy outfit, providing a lively foil to Hall's hero and Shepard's glowering character.
The plot that ties them all together is totally gripping, but it is this trio of richly drawn, superbly acted characters that makes the film so compelling.
