It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

A lot of great actors and great performances. Mediocre script. I kept thinking the writer must have watched Coen Brothers Blood Simple one too many times (if that is really possible). Ian McShane is great and the movie is literally loaded with good actors and actresses but it just doesn't quite hit the mark. Worth watching but not great.

This film wants to be No Country for Old Men if it was directed by a second rate Robert Rodriguez.A Mexican cartel arms deal goes wrong leaving several dead and some money missing. Ian McShane is a wily but ageing small town lawman in Arizona, Patrick Wilson is his straight laced replacement, the new sheriff in town. They both join forces as a mysterious cartel hit-man (John Leguizamo) arrives with a literal hit-list, the trouble he is also a police officer. John Belushi is a sleazy used car salesman who seems to be doing the Cartel's dirty work.This is a gritty neo noir B film, convoluted and viscerally violent, at one point Wilson loses his hand in a machete attack but it also comes across as confusing, hollow and silly at times.

"Apollo 18" director Gonzalo López-Gallego and freshman scenarist Nils Lyew have done wonders with their Mexican cartel versus American lawmen movie "The Hollow Point," starring Patrick Wilson, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Jim Belushi, and Lynn Collins. This gritty, bullet-blasting, machete-wielding thriller set in Arizona reminded me of "No Country for Old Men," "Blood Father," "Sicario," and "Savages" with a budget that is probably only a fraction of these superior sagas. Nevertheless, "The Hollow Point" doesn't go slack in any department. The veteran cast deliver gripping performances, especially Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Jim Belushi. Mind you, the multi-talented Patrick Wilson whose career continues to defy pigeon-holing is good as the good guy sheriff who eventually turns into the "Dirty Harry" lawman that British actor Ian McShane portrays with gusto galore. "Open Grave" lenser José David Montero's widescreen cinematography is atmospheric, particularly in a foggy, nocturnal, highway gunfight. Not only does López-Gallego helm this concise though brutal thriller, but he also edited it for maximum impact. The irony of "The Hollow Point" is spelled out in the opening credit when we learn that the evil Hispanic dastards have more weapons than ammunition to feed them and bullets on the black market mean big bucks. Predictably, the cartel is the villain here, and none of these wicked fiends is treated with anything approaching sympathy or sophistication. They are thoroughly bastards who have no compunction against killing anybody including all the relatives relating to their intended targets. Although it duplicates the treacherous likes of the cartel, "The Hollow Point" examines the dastards above the border in Arizona. The current sheriff has been waging a campaign against the ammo smugglers and he advocates 'shoot first and worry later' in his dealings with these criminals who turn out to be Americans. No sooner has Sheriff Leland Kilbaught performed his sworn duty on one smuggler than he is reprimanded and a replacement is dispatched to replace him. The reputation of the new sheriff, Wallace (Patrick Wilson of "Watchmen"), precedes him and everybody labels him an 'asshole.' Nevertheless, Wallace is nothing like Leland because he believes in giving the criminal the benefit of the doubt, until he confronts a 'do-or-die' cartel enforcer, Atticus (John Leguizamo of "Carlito's Way"), who prefers a machete to a pistol. Some things about Nils Lyew's screenplay you must figure out as the straightforward action unfolds. The most mysterious character is none other than Atticus, and he appears to be an inmate at a prison who changes into an official guard's uniform and then walks as casually as you please out of the facility without attracting attention to take down a target. Atticus is as cold as they come. Keep in mind, little in Lyew's screenplay appears to be original in the sense that you have never seen something before. In this respect, genre aficionados will appreciate this rough and tough tale with its predictable violence. Some of this violence may upset the squeamish, but it is entirely in line with what you should expect from a cartel caper. Into this mix, we have Wallace's former wife, Marla (Lyn Collins), who has taken up with one of the American villains that has disappeared because he worked for the cartel. Wallace is out to find him. Uttering anything else about this swiftly-paced movie would mitigate its ferocious pacing.Basically, "The Hollow Point" is a standard-issue B-movie, but López-Gallego never wears out his welcome with this slam-bang, 97-minute melodrama. Based on the number of surprises that will jolt you throughout this violent epic, this movie deserves the highest rating that I can give it. Count them—five ball-busting surprises—smack you when you least expect them, right up until the last scene. "The Hollow Point" never misses bull's eye!

The Hollow Point has taken the action/crime genre by storm in the first few months of the year, and it's a shame it wasn't released with a little more fanfare or marketing, as I only happened to stumble upon it while browsing shaw on demand. It's bleak, vicious and frequently quite funny, and while doesn't quite possess the near mythic, philosophical properties of something along the lines of No Country For Old Men, which it is clearly influenced by, it makes up for that in pure bloody spectacle, showing in demented detail just how far the cartels will go to ensure their business thrives, and just how determined the grizzled American lawmen are to protect what's theirs, and weed out corruption bullet by bullet. Bullets are the case in point here, and we see how the manufacturing and smuggling of cheap ammunition across the border to Mexico has taken its toll on the now ravaged, bankrupt southern US towns. Two sheriffs preside over one such town, each with a different set of morals that get wonderfully upturned in honest to god character arcs. Violent, jaded Leland (Ian McShane) deals out justice excessively with a bitter hand and no qualms about bending the rules. Upright, idealistic Wallace (Patrick Wilson) believes in the rule of law, until things get so out of hand that he's force to realize that no such thing actually exists, at least anymore. Following a deal gone wrong, the cartels dispatch a terrifying assassin (John Leguizamo in terminator mode) to work his way through a list of targets. Wallace and Leland are forced to contend with this beast and smoke out the local liaison to the cartels, in the form of sleazy used car salesman Shep (Jim Belushi has never been this good). Shootouts, heated arguments, severed limbs, betrayals and conflicting morals ensue, and it's one nicely balanced display of a classic ethical drama and a gory shoot em up that work hand in hand. Each character is hurting in some way, even Leguizamo, who's ice cold, thinly written ultimate badass gets surprisingly fleshed out in a third act that slows down just enough for us to care about these people. Wilson is the epitome of cool without even trying to be, always exuding vulnerability and grit at the same time, no easy task but one he has consistently been doing for years now, making any work he does instantly memorable. McShane is simply one of the best living actors out there, no argument. He's curiously underused in Hollywood, or perhaps prefers to keep a low profile, but it's always great to see him do work worth his talent, and he's the heart of this film, using salty comic relief and world bitterness to turn Leland from a callous, hard bitten piece of work into a believable and relatable human being, all the while kicking ass with a gigantic desert eagle cannon that is probably way over state regulations. As nasty and violent as it is, there's heart, in smaller doses, and the filmmakers use beautiful cinematography, terrific editing and a lived in, business-like yet ponderous script to convey the futility and tragedy of the illegal arms race that poisons these areas, while always keeping up the action and intensity of a genre piece. One of the best I've seen so far this year.