John:

I liked the kid's line "you've got to be nicer to me". I also liked the line of William H. Macey "I've got a lot of love to give, I just don't know where to put it!" especially in the context of the irony of his escapade to buy himself some cosmetic surgery costing him the part of his appearance he was most concerned with, and at the same time getting help from the compassionate (and innately conservative and by-the-book) police officer.

I wouldn't say any of the characters are evil in the context of the movie, they are all damaged and imperfect, and except for the kid's father, usually aware of it. Some have done evil things. Some of them evoke no sympathy, but Philip Seymour Hoffman, The kid, the restless guilty energy of the dying Robards, trying to follow what was going on with Cruise and his inquisitor, held it together for me even though there was no one identifiable hero (God?).

The movie takes the position that miracles exist, redemption exists, and fantastic coincidences do in fact happen, (not always good ones).

And the f-word sure came out of the mouth of Julianne Moore a lot. She makes the word "overwrought" look tired. They were trying to get across that although she was a lot younger than her husband, she loved him and was not taking his helplessness and impending death at all well, possibly because she was too young to have experienced much of it in her life as yet.

The tension builds and builds and builds, and for those who haven't seen it yet i wouldn't tell them what happens, but it is not a typical kind of thing. And like I said before, to my surprise, it worked for me. And it was beautifully choreographed from all points of view.