Bryce (Josh Brolin) reconnects with old friend Nick (Alessandro Nivola). Then he calls on Nick for help. He had drunken black-out sex with Kathy (Reese Witherspoon) who claims to be underage and threatened to call the cops. Bryce shows Nick that he had tied her up down in the basement. Four months earlier, Nick first met the girl who eventually becomes his girlfriend Lissa. He expected a big insurance payday after his father's death but instead he loses everything. He gets involved with small time hood Jimmy (Terrence Howard) to steal $40k from (Rocky Carroll). It goes sideways and Nick needs to come up with $15k as his share of the heist. Bryce is back in town housesitting and shows him a special Lincoln stay-of-execution note. He comes up with a plan to steal the note without Bryce reporting it.
The turn back to the past sucks away some of the cool neo-noir vibe. This could have worked as a stylish three person play. Brolin is overacting a little and Nivola is a bit too stoic. The acting is OK and it's set up for something cool. Then the story adds in a twist. The big problem is the motivations for the twist make no sense. If Nick had the money, he would never do the job. There isn't any reason to scam him. The guy is begging to be paid at the job. Barry must have heard about it since Nick apparently tells him everything. How much money could Nick have in the bank? Even Nick's plan is questionable. I'm not sure what Bryce would do after finding the note missing. That part of the plan seems very dubious and I would think the stolen note would eventually land back on Nick. There are too many questionable plans going on here.
The turn back to the past sucks away some of the cool neo-noir vibe. This could have worked as a stylish three person play. Brolin is overacting a little and Nivola is a bit too stoic. The acting is OK and it's set up for something cool. Then the story adds in a twist. The big problem is the motivations for the twist make no sense. If Nick had the money, he would never do the job. There isn't any reason to scam him. The guy is begging to be paid at the job. Barry must have heard about it since Nick apparently tells him everything. How much money could Nick have in the bank? Even Nick's plan is questionable. I'm not sure what Bryce would do after finding the note missing. That part of the plan seems very dubious and I would think the stolen note would eventually land back on Nick. There are too many questionable plans going on here.