Abe (Ryan Donowho) lives in a squalid house with his uncle Bump (Anson Mount). The group living in the house make and use crystal meth. There is constantly violence, the threat of violence, incoherence and destruction. Also living there is Deandra (Makenna Fitzsimmons) Bump's six-year-old daughter. There is a casual acceptance of the situation. Abe's father Sonny (Xander Berkeley) comes into this set-up, a man with a mission. A reformed addict, early -released from jail, he is determined to save his son from this life. Abe is determined to save Deandra from Bump's abuse. Many of the characters are unpleasant, but they are believable. Despite the violence and abuse, the story is told in a low-key way. There is humour too in the visits to the local store to buy large quantities of drain-cleaner and cold-cure.

Bump is a hardened meth-user. He hallucinates that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are surrounding him, and believes he is shooting agents out of the trees with his pump-action shotgun. He's on the edge, exuding constant menace. After one of his sidekicks, Fat Earl (Rutherford Cravens), is picked up by the authorities, Sonny makes Bump clear everything out of the meth lab in case the house is searched. For safety Sonny takes Abe and Deandra to a relative's house where they experience normal family life. It is now obvious that Sonny is involved in more than saving his son. Bump's paranoia increases and he hits Lucy (Polly Cole), his girlfriend, convinced there are people outside waiting for him. Sonny is a bit torn between whether he can save his brother as well as his son. The poverty of the community where Abe, Bump and Deandra live hangs like a poisonous cloud over the action. Their house is an oversized shack, the local store was last refitted in the 1950s, dereliction abounds. Dusty vehicles move along dirt roads to country and western music. There is no joy. Cook County speeds to its end like a Greek tragedy - betrayal, paedophilia, death. There's also redemption, the hope of something better. It's a powerful, disturbing film investigating parts of American society lurking under the surface. What happens may happen off the beaten track in rural Texas, the film suggests - but unless it's excised, the cancer might spread.

CAST: (imdb): www.imdb.com/title/tt1147682/

COMPANY: (imdb): www.imdb.com/title/tt1147682/

END

(c) Peter Andrews 2008

reviewed Saturday 6 December 2008 / The Roxy, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com