Blackway

Main characters from Blackway, Anthony Hopkins as Lester, Julia Stiles as Lillian, Alexander Ludwig as Nate and Ray Liotta as the very nasty title character. Picture comes from YouTube trailer.

Shades of Three Billboards. We've got a small town with a nasty character who has got everyone, including the sheriff, terrorized until Lillian demands to know 'what's wrong with you people?" This prompts Lester to get out his shotgun and and set out to put things right. It's not a great movie, but it's not bad. We've got some pretty great characters. It does make you think that vigilante justice might, in some cases, be justified. How many assaults must a man commit before he has used up all available forgiveness? The law has rules, but the law is a blunt instrument. Sometimes a little careful pruning is all that is required.

The movie opens with Lester puttering in his workshop which reminds me entirely of his role in The World's Fastest Indian where he is the old coot tinkering with his motorcycle in his garage.

Julia Stiles earned a place in my pantheon by playing Nicky Parsons in several of the Jason Bourne films.