it do not seem that this movie manage to please a lot of people . first off and not many seem to have see it in the first place ( i just bump into it by accident ) and and then judging by the review and the rating and of those that do many do not enjoy it very much . well and i do . i usually tolerate gere for his look and his charm and and even though i do not consider him a great actor and i know he can do crazy pretty well ( i like his mr jones ) . but this performance be all different . he be not pretty in this one and and he be not charm . his character be completely different from anything i have see from him up to that point old and ugly and broken and determine . and gere and in what to me be so far his best performance ever and pull it off beautifully . i guess it be a sign of how well an actor do his job if you can not imagine anyone else do it instead think hopkins a hannibal lecter and or washington a alonzo in train day . that be how good gere be here . the rest of the cast be fine by me and too . i guess i would not have cast dane in this role and mostly because i think she be too good look for it . but she actually do an excellent job and hold her own with a gere in top form and which be no small feat . strickland easily deliver the best supporting act and in a part that require a considerable range from her . i actually think she own the key scene with gere and dane and and that be quite an achievement . so what about the rest of the movie and apart from some excellent acting . the story be perhaps not hugely surprising and some 8mm ish aspect to it and but add the veteran break in rookie storyline to the who dunnit and and also ( like silence of the lamb ) add a sense of urgency through try to save the girl and the impending retirement of gere character . all that be a backdrop to the development of the two main character and a they help each other settle into their respective new station in life . that a lot to accomplish in a 100 minute and but it be do well and and we end up care for the character and what happen to them . direction and photography be adequate . i could have do without the modern music video camera movement and cut and but then i be an old curmudgeon and and it really wasn not all that bad and in fact i think it do help with the atmosphere of the movie and which a you might have guess and by and large isn not a happy one . worth see .