All of the phrases mentioned above were floating through my head as I watched this film. Gene Hackman, as usual, pulls in a fine performance, even with the drivel he is given to work with. Surprisingly, Chris O'Donnell mostly holds his own with Hackman and Dunaway, and has some honest chemistry with Lela Rochon. But therein begins the problems. The racism presented here in the film seems to be a plot device for other topics such as family disfunction and alcoholism. Is this ethically or morally proper for James Foley (whose work I generally enjoy) to subject us to such racism and hate, which the story could have been focused on, for a tawdry and run-of-the-mill story? I don't think so, and as the story came to its conclusion, I felt cheapen and lead-on by this film's exploitative tactics. Sorry folks...this one is for Hackman, Foley or Dunaway completists ONLY.