Well Deserved Praise

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Once in a while a film jumps out that doesn't follow the conventional ways of storytelling and that certainly leads to a peak of interest. "Shimmer Lake" tells a murder mystery in reverse, in the ways Nolan brilliantly told his "Memento" decades ago, however nowhere near as gripping as that."Shimmer Lake" centers on an investigation lead by small-town sheriff Zeke Sikes, played by Benjamin Walker. The clever gimmick of the script is that the narrative is presented backwards, day by day within the time span of a week. While the way it informs the viewers on how the events came to be is interesting in its premise, the screenplay seems muddled and rushed, missing out tiny details or not explaining everything that leads up to the plot.The cast did a great job with an impressive performance by Rainn Wilson in particular. However, I felt like I couldn't connect with any of the characters and didn't find myself wanting them to either succeed or fail in the film. The film's running time doesn't even pass 90 minutes, this I believe, leading to a hasty narrative, overlooking backstory details."Shimmer Lake" sells itself as an interesting take on a crime mystery film, but ultimately it just isn't that interesting as it was supposed to be.

The first and the investigation with the fbi agents was good until the last 27min then everything goes wrong and what about the death of Kris

The structure is somewhat novel. All the scenes are in reverse order. It was okay, but, I have no intention of watching it again. I have two main criticisms. It is not as clever as it thinks it is, and I didn't like any of the character, except maybe the lazy FBI agents. The reverse structure is actually quite tedious at the beginning. It takes quite a while to get into and it is definitely not funny enough to be considered a comedy. Overall, I respect that they tried something unusual, but, it did not manage to win me over. Skip it. P.S. I hate that Mexican woman.

This review may contain spoilers.Here are some notes I took while watching the film in real time. ( / indicates break in time taking notes)Tone deaf. / Backwards plot, point? Casting? Three comedy actors for a crime drama. / Bad child actor, unrealistic writing for a kid / Stilted acting. / Why weren't there any police/FBI staking out Andy's house if there's a 10 state radius highway check? / He just left the house no problem When did cop get shot, why is he a part of the case if his brother is a key suspect? Conflict of interest. / FBI guys are completely stupid, you have to be smart to be in the FBI I'm pretty sure. / Gloves??? Crime scene?????? / Prediction: Rainn getting shot at the end by someone other than Ed. Brother perhaps? Deputy? One of them is in bed with the Hispanic lady. / Static shots of people talking... but cameras can actually move. / Gay prostitute because it's shocking and weird! Makes the character less sympathetic, cheap trick. Cliché that politician has a gay lover/man ho. / Very stilted acting, writing is not great at all. / When you poop it makes gross farting sounds every time! / Why was there blood pooled at the bottom of the stairs? Nobody tracked any blood, body was upstairs. (blood on bag maybe?) / Guess gay kid had time to wipe from massive dump cause that's a clean booty. / Amazing timing with radio, why didn't they just have the radio on and have them wake up when they hear their names? / There are no stakes/suspense when you know each new character introduced dies. / Is this a comedy or a drama? Jokes don't fit anywhere organically. Everything Stephane says is sarcastic, trying too hard. / Not local, it's a federal crime to rob a bank. If sheriff is so smart, how'd he not know that? Guess they just give up and let him take the case involving HIS OWN BROTHER robbing a bank. / What is the point of putting a mannequin in your bed if you live alone? I guess that's just Chris being dumb. If the highways are all blocked why wouldn't the airports be as well? Getting passports are a wast of time. / How did none of the bullets hit Steph? Was behind a cheap motel wall against 9mm Uzi rounds at the least, .45 ACP at most. / Motivation for an upper middle class prosecutor to rob a bank? Why is Rainn so aggravated with family for no reason? / Prediction: Is it not Ed's kid too? Why is she more upset and claiming he wasn't? Not his kid, affair. / Prediction: The look Steph gave when Rainn was trash talking his brother - they're banging and he is covering for her. Maybe his kid? Possible revenge against Ed/Chris/Rainn/judge for the kid dying. Got confession from Rainn earlier in film in a conversation that had nothing to do with kid dying. / Don't hold a gun like that. / Stilted acting again. / Brain matter? There would be brain matter there in the pool of blood. / Filling in a hole as big as a car would take for-freaking-ever.No reason for backwards plot besides reveal that Ed died much earlier and they have same tattoo for some reason? Could've concealed the death better while keeping forward moving plot. Some points could be attributed to sheriff controlling where police are, etc. but still does not explain away that THIS IS A FEDERAL CRIME and that the FBI 100% have jurisdiction.Those particular FBI guys had no reason to be in the film, didn't move plot forward in the slightest. Only were there to frustrate me. Also what is Rainn Wilson's character's motivation for robbing a bank? Seems pretty well off. Great sheriff who murders people for justice. We never had a chance to root for him. Literally called the twist 15- 20 minutes in. Comedic stuff was a waste in a story about a sheriff who had a bastard with his friend's wife taking revenge on the friend, his own brother, a judge, and some idiot for accidentally killing the bastard child, undermining his own job and everything it stands for.