Dark Country

Due to its colorfulness and hallucinogenic atmosphere (and phlegmatic jazz soundtrack), this surrealistic thriller does not let us get close to the characters and most of the time bores us with various clichés (and annoying newlywed quarrels), only to deliver a punch in the gut in the end with an interesting, inexplicable David Lynch-like twist. As a thesis work of a film-school student, it would be a sensation; as a directorial debut by a well-known American actor, it is merely acceptable. Anyway, it doesn’t belong into the cinemas and the 3D rendering is a very bad joke. (14/01/2011)

An insane road trip through the desert obviously filmed for just a few bucks. The atmosphere is a weird blend of film noir and mysterious thriller in a 3D obviously-digital mess that is so distinctive that it had to be the intention. Tom Jane deserves a prize just for being able to get something like this into the movie theaters. And I still don’t get why 3D occurred to him. Country definitely has its moments and is crowned with a Lynch-style WTF kind of an ending, which I had a feeling would be coming right from the beginning, but I still found it hard to believe that it might happen in this movie. - Was it him or not? - Maybe. - Maybe? - I don’t know, maybe. Hard to say, when the guy didn’t have a face. (02/02/2011)

Someone probably took some inspiration from David Lynch, but at the same time tried to make a noir film. It turned into something that could be clever - at least it pretends to be - and artistic, but ultimately, it's just a banal story that likes to play with darkness, of which there's plenty here. (31/10/2016)