Gary Sutton

I have really enjoyed most of Sam Rockwell's films. Not this one. It's yet another British gangster movie, with a convoluted plot, populated by universally charmless characters. It's unnecessarily and horribly violent and the many attempts at "humour" are strained. Avoid.

After enduring "Phantom Thread" and "Punch-Drunk Love" (I fled from "There Will be Blood" after an hour), I should have known better. Way overlong, slight non-story with two unappealing and uncharismatic leads. Yes, the Valley of the early 70s is evoked accurately, along with the bad fashions, hairstyles and teeth. Yes, Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper do their best to save this movie (and their sections only succeed in illustrating how dull the rest of it is), but really it's another addition to the indulgent, boring, uninteresting section of PTA's resume. Watch "Boogie Nights", "Hard Eight" or "Magnolia" again and save your time.