People are voting emotionally.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I have seen Brian Cox in over a dozen films, including the Bourne Trilogy, but I doubt if I have ever seen as fine a performance as he gave in this film. he just wanted the truth, and damn those who try to hide it.You have to have had a dog and lost a dog to know the depths of feeling that was in Avery Ludlow (Cox). You have to have loved and lost to know what is important. You have to have sacrificed for others to hold the truth as high as Avery did. All his feelings and experiences made for a powerful story, and Cox delivered like I have never seen him do before.There were many other very good performances in this film as it built to an explosive climax, and a sweet ending.

Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) is accosted by three teenagers who attempt to rob him and then, cruelly and with no reason, shoot dead his dog Red, the only living link he has to his departed wife. With a burning intensity, he seeks redress from the boys that killed his dog - all he really wants is for them to admit what they did and apologise for it - but he is constantly stymied in his attempts at justice by not only the boys' uncaring father (Tom Sizemore) but also a justice system that considers animals no more than property. With reporter Carrie (Kim Dickens) helping to get his story out into the public, Avery's quest for justice starts to spiral out of control as we see his dogged determination - deeply seated in an horrific event from his past, revealed in a scene of masterfully understated acting on Cox' part - start to spiral out of control. A simple story of a man's search for justice and how one event can twist the lives of many until only tragedy can stop the landslide. 4.5/5

I was going along with this movie fine enough for awhile but when it gets to the point that old Avery gives this insane back story about his 2 sons... it completely fell apart. For one thing, why would someone tell the reporter he has two sons, not he HAD two sons who luridly left this planet? Second, why would this guy idiotically keep pushing, involving the innocent brother of the psychopathic kid (and father) with his own experience to show him how little it might take to endanger that boy's life? It makes no sense at all unless he's as sick as the bad guys! And then the fact that it winds up with him learning his lesson, "Two boys are dead. I couldn't let it go!" Yeah and you knew full well before just as you do now that this is what probably could happen!!! Blah... This story was just bull... At least Angela Bettis wasn't involved, but she's in the next one... Sad to see someone so righteous and talented having to take this kind of work!!! :(

**SPOILERS** 64 year-old widower Avery "Ave" Ludlow, Brian Cox, was totally unprepared for what was to happen to him and his beloved dog and life-long companion-of 14 years-Red when he went down fishing at the nearby lake by his home. Confronted by this trio of local teenagers lead by the snot nosed and spoiled rotten Danny McComrack, Noel Fisher,they at first threaten to mug Ave and steal his pick-up truck. As Ave was trying to talk some sense into their heads that, almost as an after-thought, Danny pointed his 12 gage shotgun at Red and shot him to death! Left alone Ave who got Red as a fiftieth birthday present,from his late wife, now felt that the only thing he can do for Red is to bring his killer-Danny-to justice. The justice that Ave sought was for Danny and his friends his brother Harold, Kyle Gallner, and Pete, Shiloh Frenandez, who just stood by and did nothing to Stop Danny from shooting Red to apologize for what they did. Getting nowhere and even being threatened by Danny's dad Mr. McCormack, Tom Sizemore, with a lawsuit for unnecessary harassment Ave went to local TV News reporter Carrie Donnal, Kim Dickens, to get his story out to the public. This lead to both Ave and Carrie being targeted by Mr. McCormack & Son Danny with both psychical violence, with Ave's hardware store being torched, and lawsuits in Carrie's story destroying his, and Danny's, reputations as upright and honest citizens.Not backing off for a minute in his seeking justice for Red, all Ave wanted was an apology and nothing else, lead to Danny trying to take matters into his own hand by, from behind no less, attacking Ave with a baseball bat. This "macho" act on Danny's part, him 17 attacking a man old enough to be his grandfather, backfired badly on him with Danny ending up with the wind being knocked, with his own baseball bat, out of him by Ave. ***SPOILERS***It's when Danny's dad the self-righteous and nobody tells me or my boy what to do Mr. McCormack tried to finish the job that his son started that things really got out of hand. So much out of hand that it lead to a bloodbath that practically wiped out the entire McCormack clan! Whch included Harold-Danny's younger brother-who at least had the common sense to apologize to Ave for what his spoiled and crazy brother Danny did!Trying to just get a simple apology from Danny wasn't asking too much on Ave's part in what he did by cold-bloody blowing away his dog Red. It was when Danny and his dad started to escalated the already explosive situation way out of proportions that Ave finally lost it. As peaceful and non-violent as Ave was he just couldn't turn his back on what both Danny and his father, in trying to run him out of town, were trying to do to him. In the end both Danny and his pop, as well as the innocent Harold, ended up paying a lot more for what they did to Ave, after Danny killed his dog Red, then they could have ever dreamed of!