Meskada (2010)

Meskada, or Quiet Kill as it was renamed for distribution (a rose by any other name) is a slow burning, blistering small town murder thriller that ratchets up the tension and sneaks up on you as the calamitous events unfolding reach a fever pitch of sickening human mistakes, inevitable depravity and broken, dead end people doing their best with the intellects they've been given, and the not always great life choices they make with them. Nick Stahl nicely underplays the lead investigator of a home invasion that left a little boy murdered, which takes him a few towns over to the other side of the state, namely Meskada County. Jonathan Tucker and Kellan Lutz play the burglars, torn between fear and guilt. Tucker, fantastic as always, relishes in his backwoods deadbeat role, equal parts dumbbell sleaze and ferocious caged animal kamikaze terror. Lutz, who really can't act his way out of his own nut sack, wisely keeps his head down and doesn't shake up the otherwise talented roster too badly. Rachel Nichols plays Stahl's partner with the right gusto. James Mccaffrey, known for voicing Max Payne, is awesome as a bar owner and outspoken town representative whose righteous anger clashes with Stahl's dogged need to uncover the truth at whatever large scale collateral damage. The best performance of the film comes from a brooding, volatile Norman Reedus, playing a jaded, bitter man who is just looking for an event to use as an outlet for a self inflicted downward spiral of depression and anger. Reedus is a ridiculously talented guy and he really gets the chance to shine here, using his narrow eyed, scruffy emotional edge to great advantage. The town is also going through an economic crisis that is only exacerbated by this murder investigation, creating all the more tension for the film to work with. It's sad that nobody checks out these fantastic indie gems that slip under the radar, and this one is especially worth checking out. It's a fiery yet restrained small town murder yarn that plays almost like a Russian tragedy, where even though you know from the gate that it isn't going anywhere nice, it's going to be beautiful to experience. Downbeat films may not make us feel good, but they often change us or let us see a different side of human nature that is very beneficial. This one is a perfect example of that. Dark, dreary and stressful, but with vital signs still kicking at an essential, unavoidable set of flaws in humans that needs to be explored.

Didn't expect much as I caught Meskada while channel surfing on a rainy Saturday, but it hooked me from the start and I was enormously entertained for 2 hours. Very good hard-boiled detective story. Not a mystery or a whodunit as the story presents both sides simultaneously - the detectives and the criminals. I love stories where the bad guys are three-dimensional and fully developed characters and that was the best part of this film. The ending may be dissatisfying to some, but I loved it. Things are left a little messy, just like real life. Added bonus - the music is great. The subplot of the victim's mother being an influential town council member was brilliant. Perfectly plausible.

The reason i give it a 8 is because i liked the movie and i think it is worth watching.. i really like how the ending was, although some people don't like open ended endings but when i watch a movie i want it to be like "real" and life isn't perfect not all things happen like they're supposed to, so watch it! i think you will like it....and if you don't? you can write a review..I don't want to give the story away but basically a little boy gets murdered. At first, your thinking is it the mother? Is it the father?The main character is the guy who did terminator 3. Not the young kid..the dude that was cast beside Claire Daines. Yeah him, but he did a good job i thought. A little to laid back at times but i guess thats him. This was a good role, so it didn't matter who played it. His partner was new to me, she kinda looked like a young Jodi Foster, pretty cute, she also did a good job acting. Well, its their job to find suspects in a clueless murder scene, which is a tough task to begin with and with their good wits they get on the right track and begin to figure things out, but you know it ain't easy dealing with small town citizens....especially these...they're town is victim to this bad economy and it seems if they aren't gonna get help they are in no mood to help these pushy detectives.

Meskada is another direct-to-video feature I knew nothing about ahead of time. I choose it because the story sounded interesting and I love the cast. In these cases, the film is usually hit or miss, with no in-between. In the case of Meskada, it's definitely a hit! The story follows a local detective, investigating the death of a child, during a home invasion. What makes Meskada different from the rest is that 15 minutes into the film, you know who did it and why, it's not a mystery. Nick Stahl who I usually don't like and Jonathan Tucker who I've always liked are both fantastic in this film. It's roles that neither is really used to playing and both stepped up to the challenge. The story wasn't all that strong, but the acting was, and what I really liked about this film is how it came at a common story in an unconventional way. It's defiantly worth checking out!