The Place For The Latest Movie Reviews
Cast: Nick Stahl, Kellan Lutz, Rachel Nichols, Norman Reedus, Jonathan Tucker
Small-town detective Noah Cordin is called to solve a juvenile homicide that occurred during a home burglary in his affluent town of Hilliard. The dead boy's mother, Allison Connor, is a member of the Meskada County Board of Commissioners, and a powerful woman in Hilliard; and the entire township rallies together in solidarity - to support her and Detective Cordin's efforts to find the killers.
"Meskada" is an Indie film that relies on it's cast and it's story to make it successful since you're not getting a film filled with action here. The story is pretty simple and easy to follow, small-town detective Noah Cordin is pulled into investigating a home robbery gone wrong that left a child dead in Hilliard. Facing pressure from the community and from the boy's grief-stricken mother, an influential member of the county government, Cordin follows a clue to Caswell, where he grew up, to account for the whereabouts of anyone who's had to travel toward Hilliard to find work. With Caswell suffering economically and Hilliard being a prosperous town there are many men traveling there to find work so Cordin has his work cut out for him. The murder investigation is just the tip of the iceberg here because Writer/Director, Josh Sternfeld mixes in a few twists along the way but the have mixed results. We know from the start who's responsible for the murder, a pair of young men scrabbling to get by until the manufacturing plant the town's been trying to lure in brings with it a few hundred much-needed jobs. The dead boy's mother takes revenge on Caswell by interfering with that deal. All this is going on while detective Noah Cordin is busy attempting to solve the murder. This is a story about a small town willing to protect their own and possibly their future but there seems to be a bit too much going on in the film which takes something away from it's murder/mystery but I still found it to be an enjoyable film that sports a wonderful young cast that includes, Jonathan Tucker and Kellan Lutz as the two men responsible for the murder, Nick Stahl as the detective and the gorgeous Rachel Nichols as his deputy. A few members of the supporting cast also shine like Norman Reedus and Grace Gummer, daughter of Meryl Streep in her film debut.
"Meskada" is an ambitious and effective little film that suffers a bit from attempting to be too much and some plot holes but for the most part it remains entertaining till the very end but with a little more polish and perhaps some editing this could of been a real gem. Still if you like crime drama's then I recommend checking this one out, I think it's worth a look for Nick Stahl alone who continues to improve as an actor each each new role he gets. You can order the DVD HERE.
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment
*** Out Of *****