Clint Eastwood is a name that most households in the UK will be familiar with. The picture in most people’s minds will be that of Dirty Harry, or another character he has played, however not many people realize that his has become increasingly more present behind the camera as a director. His past efforts have not been that well received with the exception of 'Unforgiven', and he had taken a lengthy break, until he decided to take on this project.

The film starts with a group of three young friends Jimmy Marcus, Sean Devine and Dave Boyle, who are playing street hockey in their local neighbourhood. They become easily bored, and the lure of freshly laid wet cement proves too much of a temptation, and they decide to write their names in the cement. However, not all of the get to finish, and as Dave, the last boy, and most nervous about doing it finally starts to write his name, they are interrupted when a car pulls up and two policemen demand to know what the boys are doing. He is clearly furious on catching the boys defacing the cement, and demands to know where they live. Jimmy and Sean are virtually on their own doorsteps, but Dave explains his lives a few streets away. The policeman wants to give Dave a fright so demands that he gets into the car so he can be taken home to face the wrath of his parents. Dave is not keen, but fear takes over and he reluctantly gets into the car, but as he is driven away, his friends realize that something is seriously wrong.

We never see what happens to Dave, we only see clips of him escaping his abductors after being held captive for 4 days. As a viewer we can only imagine what degradation he has suffered in his time with these men, and we do not see any of the characters dealing with the aftermath of this event, instead, the film then carries on 25 years on. We see Jimmy and Dave are still living in the same area, whilst Sean has joined the police force and become a homicide detective. Jimmy has spent time in prison, but now seems to be a reformed character who is well known and liked locally. Dave battles his demons daily, and has a strained relationship with his wife Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden). All is not well for Sean either, as his wife has upped and left him with no explanation, although she calls him all the time on the phone but never speaks. In short, they have all had their heads messed with the varying degrees. Their paths cross infrequently, but their lives are about to be linked forever, and with far reaching consequences.

I will stop there, as anymore information would spoil the suspense and viewing pleasure that you will get from this film, as there are certainly a few twists and turns that I did not see coming. Please bear with the film when and if you watch it. It is not an action packed film, and the script which was written by Brian Helgland, and was adapted from the novel by Denis Lehane allows the actor’s time to develop their characters. I have not read the novel, but I intend to now that I have seen the big screen take on the story.