Stone Movie Review

Ah yes, Stone. When I saw that Robert De Niro and Edward Norton were going to be starring together in a prison movie, I popped extra popcorn. I watched, eyes wide, as the opening credits rolled by. Then I kept watching, and kept watching. I was waiting for something to happen. The big twist. The scene that would put this movie right onto the map. I don't believe it ever came.

The movie starts out with De Niro dangling his young daughter out of a second-story window in order to convince his wife not to leave him. Needless to say, I was more than intrigued. Folks who aren't Michael Jackson just don't do stuff like that. Then we skip to about thirty years later for the rest of the flick.

De Niro plays Jack Mabry, a soon-to-be retired parole officer who has one more case on his desk. That case involves a convicted arsonist, "Stone", played by Edward Norton, who allegedly burned the bodies of both his grandparents after a drugged-out friend killed them. Great plot. I was interested from the start. I thought that Norton's "accent" was a little over the top but hey, it was different to be sure. The corn-rowed haircut was pretty cool.

So Stone has a hot and horny wife, played by Milla Jovovich, who will do anything to help Stone get out of prison - up to, and including, seducing and screwing the parole officer. Still a great twist in an exciting plot line. The popcorn kept going down. Things were getting good.

After that, really nothing happened. My girlfriend and I couldn't figure out what the significance of the opening scene was, as it played no integral role in the movie other than to show that maybe De Niro was imbalanced a little. Stone got paroled, his wife stopped screwing the parole officer, and then Mabry goes a little crazy and brandishes a weapon after his house burns down. We still aren't sure who set the fire.

All in all, it was a movie with high-hopes that kinda shot a little low. It wasn't bad, by any means, but I believe it left a lot to be desired. Three of five stars, says this author. It might have gotten two-and-a-half if De Niro and Norton weren't so cool to watch. Oh, and boobies. They are worth half a point alone.