I’ve slammed Nicholas Cage for the atrocious Rage (among others), so it’s only fair to laud him when he’s good. And he’s good in this. As good as I’ve seen him since Leaving Las Vegas. All the performances are nearly note-perfect, especially Tye Sheridan as Gary. Given his performances in this and Mud, he looks like he’s going to have a hell of a career ahead of him. And I have to say I can’t remember hating a character as much as I hated Gary’s father, Wade, played by Gary Poulter. What makes this even more amazing is that Poulter isn’t even an actor, but a homeless man, who—sadly—died shortly after the film was completed. I have to think that a lot of the characters used were local non-actors, too, but (because?) they were so incredibly believable.

Cage plays Joe, a small-town man with a hair-trigger temper, who runs a crew that poisons weak trees so that they can eventually be cleared to make room for new seedlings. He takes a young, troubled but hardworking boy (Sheridan) under his wing, in part to protect him from his abusive, alcoholic father.

Make no mistake—this isn’t a Hallmark film. It doesn’t pull any punches, and you will want to turn away at times, because it is brutal in its honesty and often senseless in its violence. It’s sad and shocking and suspenseful and heartbreaking. But there is also some spark of hope in Joe’s journey towards redemption and becoming the man that those around him think he can be. It’s just a simple story put together extremely well.  And if you can’t connect with these characters? If you don’t feel sickened or afraid or get choked up? Well then check your pulse because you’re probably dead inside.

This is easily a top ten contender for me, and so I’m giving it a strong recommendation. I hope this film gets more notice than it has had so far, as it deserves it. IMDB says 7.1, but I say 8.5, which makes it the highest-ranked film I’ve done so far this summer*. Much like Joe’s dog (named Dog), it’s an ugly thing, but you can’t help but love it. (running time 1:57)

* NOTE: this review is one of the ones I transferred from Facebook. It was written in the summer of 2014.