Control (2004)

One wonders why the likes of Ray Liotta, Willem Dafoe, and Stephen Rea would sign on to do a film like this. I seriously hope they actually read the horrible story before agreeing to it.

A complete garbage story about a convict saved from execution by being a guinea pig for a doctor. The deal includes trying out a medication that will erase the harmful tendencies of the convicts past, trying to make him a better person for society.

I gave it a chance but after about 30 minutes, I realized this story was formed around a single idea and the rest was just filled in along the way. That characters are underdeveloped and you never really get a liking for any of them. Then before you know it, its over, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The film feels like a movie of the week based on a cheap page turning novel you pick up before you get on an airplane.

Unfortunately Liotta and Dafoe don't help. They over-act, probably to compensate for the poor plot.

Skip this one if you can. Waste of time.

Fmovies: Genre: Psychological thriller

The Tale: criminal comes back to live after execution, surrounded by some unknown people who offer him a second change....

Why do you want to see this move ? because its a nice movie with a good storyline and excellent performance of Mr. Ray Liotta did also played in Turbulence /Copland / etc.).The story Keeps you in suspense, but can be sometimes a little bit confusing for the average or young viewer.

Conclussion: I liked the movie , but it wont be in my top10 list, although I will definitely recommend the movie to all my friends and people who like thrillers with a twist

"Control" had a good premise and idea. With Ray Liota playing a character sentenced to death but who is given a chance for freedom if he participates in an experiment to suppress his violent urges. What could have been an interesting character study about redemption ultimately became a sub-par often melodramatic movie that failed to deliver even the slightest bit of inside on the subject.

Liota stars as Lee Ray Oliver a murderer sentenced to death but given a second chance if he participates in a chemical behavioral modification program run by Dr. Michael Copeland (played by William Defoe). The movie's first problem becomes quite apparent after a short while, Liota's character isn't portrayed as a truly evil person, yes he is shown killing people but only members of the mafia, in fact his only civilian victim doesn't even die. Which from the viewer's perspective partly ruins the motivation for the treatment Lee Ray is undertaking.

The movie's plot feels confusing not because its hard to understand but because it doesn't know what direction to take. There are actually several sub-plots in it all of which after the final scene feel unfinished, and while some could have played a role in showing Liota's character new found compassion, rather ineffectively if I might add, there is the one dealing with Defoe's character that doesn't have any sort of impact on the central plot. The movie's direction does nothing to cloud the badly written plot, with a heavy dose of mediocrity it feels like you're watching a made for TV production.

The only reason this is worth watching is the acting. With some decent to good performances by Liota, Defoe and Rodriguez (who plays Lee Ray's girlfriend in one of the sub-plots). Regrettably the supporting cast fails to keep on their level, making a lot of the supporting characters annoying or just simply badly acted.

In the end "Control" fails to impress or use it's interesting ala "Clockwork Orange" premise. Giving us a final product whose melodramatic ending doesn't succeed in achieving any sort of emotional response from the viewer.

Control fmovies. "Control" is a mediocre drama which tells of a violent killer (Liotta) who undergoes a mock execution only to find himself as a test subject for a new drug developed for controlling violent behavior. Liotta is at the vortex of this film with Dafoe as his experiment supervisor, Walker as Dafoe's ex, Robertson as Dafoe's post-doc helper/lover, Rodriguez as Liotta's girlfriend, and Rea in a bit part as the director of the pharmaceutical company. As the film unfolds, it dips and delves into a little action, a tiny bit of romance, a lot of less than subtle drama, and some side plots which never go anywhere. Overall, "Control" is average escapist entertainment for the action/drama junkie which should play best with Liotta and Dafoe fans. (B-)

I agree with most other reviewers that this is a movie that was on the verge of profound resonance until its hackneyed end, and I don't understand why the obvious intelligence of the people involved degenerated into irrelevant clichés. Maybe there were financial constraints that kept them from developing the ironies the screenplay presented. But I wish they'd let the Liotta character live in the end, severely wounded perhaps but much much wiser about who he'd been and what he'd become. (His placebo pills reminded me of Dumbo's magic feather). The clumsy end cut off any hope of a satisfying catharsis -- not a happy ending maybe but one that left him to conjure with the implications of his emotional evolution.

I have always been a fan of Ray Liota and Willem Dafoe, so I checked out this movie. It sounded like it had potential to be a good film, both plot and acting wise. It does have potential, but I felt some points in the movie dragged and weakened. Liota's character, although well acted, seemed to have too drastic a turn around in too short a time to really show the process and allow the viewer to relate. There is nothing terribly wrong with this film, other than it's ending which was entirely expected, felt rushed, clichéd, and under-developed. If you have nothing better to do on a Wednesday night, then I recommend this movie, but if you have something better to do with your two hours, don't waste your time.