Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Simple story with no twist or purpose really. Thousands of kids go missing every year and this story just reminds those families how easy it can happen. The film tells a simple tragic story with little to no entertainment value. Story line is thin, acting in most cases questionable and direction amateurish. Would we watch it again - No. Not retained for future viewing.

Ethan Denton (Thomas Dekker) is barely an adult himself, and yet he already has a three-year-old son named Nate (Ameko Eks Mass Carroll). They live together in the snowy peaks of Angels Crest, a small working-class community nestled somewhere within the Rockies. One morning, Ethan notices fresh fallen snow. He decides it would be fun to take his son out into the wilderness to play, and so they drive there. He then leaves Nate in the car and goes into the woods to check out a herd of wild deer. It doesn't seem like a big deal. After all, the heat is set at maximum, the doors are locked, and Nate is safely secured in his car seat. It proves to be a monumental lapse of judgment on Ethan's part; upon his return ten minutes later, he realizes that Nate has gone missing. The ensuing search-and-rescue effort eventually leads to the discovery of Nate's lifeless body, half buried by the snow and located about a quarter mile away from the car.I was initially drawn into the plot of "Angels Crest," as it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going for the obvious. I'll bet that, after reading the first paragraph, you thought I was describing the opening scenes of a mystery thriller. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but in this case, your instincts are wrong. Adapted from the novel by Leslie Schwartz, the film isn't about a needless death so much as the repercussions on the living; it closely examines the dynamics of a tight-knit community and how easily it can unravel in times of great emotional distress. It all boils down to morality – or, more accurately, how we believe our own sense of morality should apply to other people. When it comes to the death of a child, it's not simply a matter of everyone having an opinion; it's a matter of the need to assign blame. Someone always has to be responsible.I said before that I was initially drawn in. As compelling as I found much of this film, I couldn't help but find some of its narrative techniques disagreeable. Two things stick out in my mind. Firstly, some of the characters are badly underwritten while others are one-note caricatures. Secondly, all leads up to an unearned and emotionally manipulative ending that only gives the illusion of ambiguity. I don't think this is a bad movie at all, but I am very disappointed that it never became the great movie it so clearly should have been, given its examination of attitudes and people (those that were well developed, at any rate).For now, I'll focus on what I liked about this movie, and thankfully, it amounts to more than what I disliked. I mentioned earlier morality and the need to assign blame; those that know Ethan, which is just about everyone in Angels Crest, have very definite opinions about him. They only intensify after he appears before a judge and enters a plea of not guilty. Some are convinced that he was a negligent father and, for all intents and purposes, a murderer. Others believe that he's a basically decent person who simply made a bad decision. Others still believe that he was too young to have a child in the first place. It's clear that Ethan wracked with guilt. He will spend a great deal of time researching the child safety seat Nate was strapped into. He will even buy several of them and take them apart, desperate to find some kind of manufacturing flaw.The other part of this story is Nate's estranged mother, Cindy (Lynn Collins). Her alcoholism, which has only gotten worse since the tragedy, is actually what landed Nate in Ethan's custody. Naturally, she thinks it's his fault their son is dead. As the film progresses, she begins to realize that it may not be that clear cut. At this point, it appears the discussion of morality and blame has just gotten much more interesting. If she wasn't a drinker, would Nate be alive today? Would he have been born at all? Given their young ages, I suspect alcohol played a part in him being conceived. Into Cindy's life reenters her religious mother (Barbara Williams). On the outside, she's calm and caring. She even tells Ethan that what happened wasn't his fault. But the cracks begin to show as her daughter's behavior becomes more careless. What does she really think of Ethan? Who does she really blame for Nate's death?If the entire film had stuck to this level of storytelling, it would have been a true dramatic gem. Alas, we're bombarded with superfluous subplots, all involving people who are at best indirectly involved with Ethan. The worst character is Jack (Jeremy Piven), the prosecution attorney who has what appears to be a personal vendetta against Ethan. His reasons are left a little obscure; the best we get is a vague reference to his own painful loss. Perhaps if the filmmakers had bothered to delve a little more deeply into this character, we would have had a reason to care about his hostility. And then there's the ending, mentioned earlier. I truly don't know what director Gaby Dellal was thinking when she decided to include it. Movies like "Angels Crest" don't benefit from heavy-handed, manufactured conclusions, especially when they had not been building up to them.-- Chris Pandolfi (www.atatheaternearyou.net)

Angels Crest (2011) ** (out of 4)A small community is ripped apart when a father (Thomas Dekker) is charged with negligent homicide after his three-year-old son dies. The two were out on a trip when the father decided to go check something out and leave the kid sleeping in the truck. The son managed to get out of the vehicle, get lost and the next day he is discovered dead. After the father is charged a whole group of people act differently to the events. I'm sure director Gaby Dellal had high hopes for this film and I'm sure the subject matter was something very close to her but she should have requested a re-write because the screenplay here is a complete mess that thinks it's something deep but at the end of the picture you realize that it's nothing but one shallow character and situation after another. There's no question that 100% of the blame must go towards the screenplay because every single one of the characters are shallow, boring and it's impossible to care for them. As I watched the movie I kept wondering what emotion I was supposed to be feeling, who was I supposed to be feeling it for and there are just scenes that take place, take you down one direction and then it just cuts off and you're sitting there wondering what the entire point was. We see the father struggle over guilt. Understandable. We learn that the child's mother is a worthless piece of drunk trash. There's a restaurant owner (Mira Sorvino) who has some of her own secrets. There's a lesbian couple who can't agree whether the dad is to blame. For some reason one of the lesbian's sons shows up and of course he hates gay people. There's even the father's best friend who just happens to be sleeping with the mother. All of these characters enter, say dialogue but you're never quite sure why they're there and in the end none of their stories come together for anything. You even have Jeremy Piven playing the D.A. who has his own past that he's hiding from. I'm sure the point of the film was to try and show what one event would have on a large group of people but the film is a complete failure. I will say that the opening ten-minutes were effect but this is due mostly to the subject matter. Seeing such a young kid die isn't easy to watch so of course it's going to be disturbing. Everything that follows is just one big mess. Performances are decent at best but you can tell they're drowning as it seems none of the actors know what to do and they appear to just go around without cause. ANGELS CREST has an interesting idea but sadly it goes nowhere and the film runs out of gas even before it can get going.

All the great vistas and quality cinematography, can't make up for the lackluster production and direction of this film. Thomas Dekker looks more like he should be playing Gerard Way in the "My Chemical Romance" story, than a grease monkey in a hillbilly town. Then you have the textbook lesbian couple seen in almost all movies made in the past 10 years. Juxtaposed with the overtly religious mother with the alcoholic daughter, this story seems more like it's trying to please a film school students liberal teacher. No heroes, no anti-heroes. No moral, no point. Everyone seems to be in a rut here. No rhyme or reason. A better name for this would be "Shit Happens". Nice to see Mira Sorvino. I can't understand why she did this though. No opportunities for her to shine in this, but she plays her role well. Same goes for Jeremy Piven, though in his case he should fire his agent. He's a great actor, and plays his part well, but seems constrained by the script and/or director. Not bad, but not good either.