Full Review

David Gordon Green's atmospheric thriller concerns hog farmer John Munn (Dermot Mulroney) raising his two sons, Chris (Jamie Bell) and Tim (Devon Alan), as a single father, somewhere in the South. Chris, the older boy, is something of a troublemaker, always running afoul of the law for minor infractions.

Bell, you may recall, played Billy Elliott in the British film about a young working-class boy who wants to become a dancer, in spite of opposition from his miner father. Bell has traded in his ballet shoes for something much worse here.

In the opening scene, the pistol-wielding father of a girl he's been seeing pursues him so he'll leave the daughter alone, once and for all. In the pursuit, Chris jumps off a roof, and lands with one foot squarely on a plank of wood with a long nail protruding (one of the most cringe-inducing moments ever filmed). He then has to continue his flight with the board nailed to his foot. This scene sets the tone for more violence -- and pursuing -- to come.

Chris' kid brother Tim, a tousled-haired child, has a peculiar -- not to mention revolting -- anxiety disorder: he ingests nonfood substances like paint and mud and then throws up when no one's looking.

Eventually, John's brother Deel (Josh Lucas) arrives, just released from prison, and though he looks like an unhinged, evil character from the get-go, John -- perhaps guilty that he's had a better life than his brother and that he had stolen away Deel's girlfriend -- invites him to stay and help with the hogs and the kids.

But Deel reveals obsessive curiosity about some Mexican coins that he believes John possesses that are, by rights, half his. In the screenplay by Joe Conway and Green, the coins represent (guess what?) greed. Deel ransacks the house to find the coins, John catches him in the act, and they engage in a violent struggle, during which John is killed.

From that point on, the film turns into a chase, as the boys flee into the woods, with hope of getting to Mexico. (They can't go to the police, because Deel has revealed that he used Chris' knife to kill the father, and the police will think Chris did it because of Chris' prior scrapes with the law.)

In their flight, the boys encounter a kindly black couple, homeless kids living in a sort of commune, and other colorful characters.

Deel is on their trail every step of the way, presumably anxious to retrieve the coins they've taken with them. His intent is plainly murderous, even though he's already revealed that Chris is, in fact, his own son.

Though the film is imbued with a good sense of place and the suspenseful pace never flags, some of the plot elements strain credulity, and many viewers will find the violence and gritty realism of the violence a challenge to sit through.

Bell is quite plausible as this Southern farm boy with not a trace of his English accent. Lucas, doing a complete turnaround from his sympathetic father role in "Around the Bend," is as menacing as they come as the murderous uncle, and Mulroney is all taciturn solidity as the father. Philip Glass has composed an effective score.

Because of rough, profane and crude language, a brutally violent scene with copious blood, partial rear nudity, a fleeting instance of underage drinking, and some sexual talk and gesture, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.