'Stone'

'Stone' (R) (rental)

Writer: Angus MacLachlan
Director: John Curran
Starring: Edward Norton, Robert Deniro, Milla Jovavich, Francis Conroy

"Stone" is a battle of wits between a parole officer and a prisoner up for parole. Throw in the criminal's wife who kind of fills up a strange threesome. "Stone" is also an acting showcase between Edward Norton and Robert Deniro. Deniro is the parole officer Jack who is about to retire and Norton is an arsonist named Stone played by Norton who we first see in cornrows. The acting as expected is great and Milla Jovavich and Francis Conroy contribute good performances as well. I just wish the movie would have got the job done like the actors do. The movie is a series of interviews with the officer and prisoner as Norton tries to plead his case. The officer has a quiet and sometimes strained relationship with his wife played by Conroy. Stone has a wife at home who is very sexy, beautiful and a little sleazy. She also gets involved as she tries to make the moves on Jack to convince him to get Stone out. The movie is also punctuated by a religious radio station and one of it's call in shows. The movie has a religious undertone as Stone starts to read the bible and get himself right with God. The religious stuff is fine though the radio stuff gets annoying. The acting is great especially Norton who constantly amazes me with how deeply he gets in character. The problem is the movie I think cheats us at the end and there are a lot of dead spots in the movie. It just isn't intense enough and more like a silly Southern Gothic. Wait to rent this one at home where you can enjoy the acting, it isn't worth $11.