What is there to say about this one? It's not a great movie. It's a collection of missed opportunities, with some occasionally silly writing, and direction that misses the mark.
As the story starts off, our lead is established. He's a nice guy. But he has no particular traits, outside of his athletic talents. He has a few friends, but I don't see a genuine connection between them. If he had been established as an ethical guy, the story might play better. He joins this society without a second thought, despite providing him with a rulebook, as well as giving the instruction that their rules are to be obeyed over law. This should be an issue for a guy who plans on being a lawyer.
The actual meat of the story - the death, the investigation, the ethical dilemma it poses, all of that is a good idea. Unfortunately, that approach is mostly abandoned, in favor of a conspiracy-theory flavored "they've got people everywhere!" The story might have been a bit more effective if it were handled as a straight drama, rather than a thriller.
The direction is strange. Outdoor shots usually look kind of nice. Indoor shots are strange. They use a lot of shadow, but they put a lot of sunlight into the frame. The light is almost always a bit fuzzy, possibly a little over-exposed. This gives a dreamy, soft look to most of those shots. It's a little confusing, like I was getting mixed messages. There's a sequence at the police station that has some frantic editing and constant Dutch angles. I know how it's supposed to make me feel, but it wasn't in the vocabulary of the movie until that scene, and that makes it feel a little wrong.
I wasn't especially happy with it, but I'm glad to have seen it. I saw the trailer when it came out, and I had always been a little curious.
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