This dark drama, which tracks two families shaken by murders, suffered a straight-to-DVD fate, but it's worth a look to see Kutcher struggle to get past his doofus persona and to admire the amazingly well-preserved Pfeiffer. Plus, it's always fun to see Kathy Bates in a strong supporting role.
College wrestler Walter (Kutcher) has returned to the rainy city he calls home in the wake of his sister's murder to attend her killer's trial. Down the courtroom hall, Linda (Pfeiffer) is attending the trial of her husband's murderer while coping with raising her difficult and deaf teenage son Clay (Spencer Hudson). Walter and Linda meet at a grief support group also attended by Walter's mother Gloria (Bates), and soon they find themselves leaning on each other for moral, and ultimately sexual, support.
Stoic to a fault, Walter says very little and is a failure as a chicken-suited walking billboard for a local fast food place. He only comes to life in the weight room and when he decides to help channel some of Spencer's rage by coaching him on the high school wrestling team. He also assists Linda with the weddings she organizes at the local community center. They're nice distractions, but he is still haunted by the particularly gruesome death of his sister (raped, killed, and burned), and wants revenge on the developmentally disabled man accused of the crime.
Shot in what director David Hollander calls 'crushed colors,' mainly a range of blues and grays, the movie looks drab, downtrodden, and decidedly blue collar, although it should be noted that Pfeiffer seems to travel with her own permanent spotlight. She can't help but glow. This is a grim story, and the presence of a gun that keeps making brief appearances sets us up for an inevitable third-act moment when someone will have to shoot someone else in order to justify the gun's many cameos.
Pfeiffer and Bates are both exceptionally strong in their roles, and the deaf, non-professional actor Hudson is a real find as Clay. As for Kutcher watchers, you'll admire his willingness to stretch. A few more of these efforts, and he may be able to erase the wonderful/terrible memory of Dude, Where's My Car? from your mind once and for all.
Let's rent The Fabulous Baker Boys.
