Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I was appalled at how bad this movie was. Despite having a few fairly big names, all of the performances were catatonic and uninspired. I picked this up at Wal-mart and I am more concerned about the hour and a half of my life I will never get back. There is definitely a place on or near my ten worst movies list. Even the potential eye candy was lethargic and forced.Kevin Hart was neutered. Simon Helberg played a caricature of a two dimensional thug. If he's worried about being remembered as Howard Walowitz, he should be glad if he is remembered as Howard Walowitz.I couldn't tell if Ed Asner had had a stroke or if his character had dementia. Either way, it was a great loss.Minor embarrassments turn into mediocre epiphanies. Buy this movie today for someone that you really don't like.

I first saw this film at the Virginia Film Festival. I have since bought the DVD for myself and others. I love this movie! Especially the following: 1. the animated title sequence and scene transitions 2. the interesting use of color – particularly red 3. the surprisingly good performances by comedic actors from The Office, Community, and The Big Bang Theory 4. the recurring thread of the Santa Monica Pier 5. the use and placement of the Other Lives song "Black Tables" I am old enough to remember Ed Asner from television. It was nice seeing him again on the big screen. I also thoroughly enjoyed the performances of Kevin Hart, David Denman, and Gillian Jacobs. I believe this is the first effort by writer / director Brian Jett. I truly hope it is not his last. Definitely worth watching!

I think the reason this gem did not get the proper release is that it was marketed to a hip Kevin Hart audience and not the Ed Asner audience. Here you have something closer to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with brilliant performances but the marketing people missed the mark. Kevin Hart's tragic character Kris performance was spot on, it had its comic moments but you felt the character's fallen from grace humiliation. So if you went in thinking you were going to get a laugh a minute from this comic genius you were disappointed. Only Ed Asner could have pulled off Artie, the nasty crotchety old buzzard career criminal and still be so endearing. Director Brian Jett got Oscar worthy performances out of these two and others in the cast. As an audience, do we have the time to sit and appreciate the complexities of Walter, played brilliantly by David Denman? He had to play straight man to a cast of faulted characters while dealing with his own short comings. Who did not fall in love with Darla? Gillian Jacobs was, well, beautiful as ever and you sensed her conniving character becoming real and not just putting on an act just to get what she wanted. I know that with people in the cast like Ed Asner, Kevin Hart, Dov Davidoff, Garrett Morris, Jack Carter, Rance Howard you'd expect a laugh a minute but instead you end up watching a sweet moving movie about people in situations that you have to laugh to keep from crying. This was a tragic comedy doing a high wire act between tragedy and comedy. Brian Jett did a great job with 4 strong characters, each with their own character arc, their own issues and their own way to resolving them. This is a comedy but not for the MTV crowd.

"I don't think anyone actually wants to become a parole officer." Walter is a parole officer who isn't happy with his job. One by one a new offender comes to him and he has to lay out the rules. During his recent sting of offenders he meets three very different personalities and does his best to try and help them all. He finds that helping them he starts to help himself. Going in I was not really looking forward to this that much. The preview made it look OK but I still thought it could be a little slow moving. This was the opposite. The humor was really funny but still a little quirky. Kevin Hart was great in this and he really stole the movie. There really isn't too much to this movie other then all four of the main people trying to straighten out their lives but this is worth seeing. This is the type of movie you can just put in and watch without really having to think about too much and every once in a while that is nice to do. Overall, a fun lighthearted comedy that is relaxing to watch. I give it a B.