Honestly, the film starts out a bit confusing...Libby was a top aide to the VP and 4 years later is accepting a teaching position at a university, where we see that she is a controversial person hated by many, but we don't know why. It takes a while for the film to unravel the details in flashbacks so instead of it feeling like a mystery the viewer feels a bit lost and frustrated like we are missing out on some important info... but just hang in there. While the audience is trying to figure out what the heck Libby did that's made everyone so angry another mystery is introduced...one of the students begins stalking her.
This film is definitely flawed in its presentation and I wouldn't call it a thriller, but it gets better as it goes along. I felt that the writing and pace of the movie, as well as some of the acting, were the main problems. It's a slow burn, and it had that low budget feel but the second half of this political drama/mystery pulls it all together and in the end, it was an enjoyable enough watch In My Humble Opinion! 6.5 stars
45 Reviews
A SLOW-BURN THRILLER - VERY SLOW, THAT'S THE ISSUE
rsridhar200523 July 2019
Ok, with all the story / reliability content, this good drama or a political thriller (if you can call it like that) is indeed very slow. The actual movie starts & ends in the last 20-25 minutes or so. Initally, too much of dragging. Problem als there with the star cast. Apart from Jamie Lee Cutis, not many known faces.
The lead, Tika Sumpter (Libby) is wholly wooden in her expressions. But for her well-chiseled physique, she fails to emote. Story is very topical and of course, the twist in the tail is worth-watching, if you have patience to sit thru' the boring 2/3rd of the movie.
The lead, Tika Sumpter (Libby) is wholly wooden in her expressions. But for her well-chiseled physique, she fails to emote. Story is very topical and of course, the twist in the tail is worth-watching, if you have patience to sit thru' the boring 2/3rd of the movie.
Passable Pages, Sadly...
Moovimn6730 July 2020
An okay film for a rental on iTunes, but the biggest drawback of the film for me, besides the ho-hum story and acting, is the horrible use of a soft filter for lensing that I have no idea why it was shot that way. This type of political film does not need a softer imaging in telling the story. Had they opted for a better DP, at least it would be a bit more watchable and have less of that soapy build up.
This one's a hard pass
garymathe-7617323 April 2019
A very interesting and important topic presented (and tragically cheapened) by mostly mediocre actors and a few terrible ones (e.g. drunk guy at party), a decent director, and a very weak script which is riddled with cartoonish characters and ridiculous elements.
Thriller? More like snooze fest. Tries hard to portray Dick Cheney, Dubya, Condi Rice, etc. but doesn't have the tools to pull it off. One Jamie Lee Curtis does not a good movie make. Go see Vice instead.
Worth the patience.
kiko-499809 September 2019
Forced
SteveJ_88814 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
An Acceptable Loss is a somewhat cliched, humorless movie. Almost every scene is dark regardless of the time of day. The movie is already muted enough without this visual effect, though. Overall the characters are less than colorful. Jamie Lee Curtis's performance is powerful, but never subtle. Some of the smaller roles add some interest.
At first a gradual and unclear unfolding of events after the fact creates mystery, but this continues too long before the true nature of things emerges. From that point on any flashbacks are easily understood, but going forward what remains is a typical drama. A consistent way of storytelling throughout would have worked better.
Despite it's faults the movie isn't terrible because the story, though fragmented, is decent. What really took the movie down a grade for me was the sense that the movie makers are trying to make a statement rather than entertain. An exceedingly morose version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the end credit music embodies this feeling.
For a movie to successfully convey a message or make a moral statement, it requires a careful treatment that's not forced or preachy, and that was lacking here. The movie seems to be loosely based on true events, with comparisons that are a little too obvious.
Those who tend to sympathize with victimization might like the movie. Those sometimes offended by what they consider less than patriotic might be disapproving. But the movie is neither a brilliant political thriller nor liberal propaganda, just a mediocre movie based on a good premise that suffers from too much complexity and a heavy-handed effort to lead the viewer to a particular conclusion.
At first a gradual and unclear unfolding of events after the fact creates mystery, but this continues too long before the true nature of things emerges. From that point on any flashbacks are easily understood, but going forward what remains is a typical drama. A consistent way of storytelling throughout would have worked better.
Despite it's faults the movie isn't terrible because the story, though fragmented, is decent. What really took the movie down a grade for me was the sense that the movie makers are trying to make a statement rather than entertain. An exceedingly morose version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the end credit music embodies this feeling.
For a movie to successfully convey a message or make a moral statement, it requires a careful treatment that's not forced or preachy, and that was lacking here. The movie seems to be loosely based on true events, with comparisons that are a little too obvious.
Those who tend to sympathize with victimization might like the movie. Those sometimes offended by what they consider less than patriotic might be disapproving. But the movie is neither a brilliant political thriller nor liberal propaganda, just a mediocre movie based on a good premise that suffers from too much complexity and a heavy-handed effort to lead the viewer to a particular conclusion.
An honest review
Top_Dawg_Critic17 March 2019
Out of the twelve current reviews, the ten 10/10's are all fake, and the two 1 & 2/10 are wannabe critics that have no clue how to rate a film.
I found this film flawed, yet interesting and entertaining, and better than I expected.
The acting by all cast was on point, especially J.L. Curtis. The sound/score was decent. The directing and cinematography were well done by writer/director Joe Chappelle. But his writing is were the flaws showed. The too-long 102 min length, and extremely slow pacing made this film seem over 2 hours long. Many scenes were dragged out and unnecessary imo. Joe Chappelle's resume is mainly TV's shows, so going into a full length feature film clearly was a challenge for him. Had this films pace been sped up, and the screenplay edited/cut down to 60 (TV show length) - 80 min, it would have held the audiences attention better with constant uninterrupted suspense..
The premise of this political drama/(hardly a) thriller was actually very interesting, and the flashback scenes were done well, but most of the 'entertainment value' was the last 15-20 mins. The beginning was the slowest, focusing too much on unnecessary long or irrelevant scenes.
Still, an enjoyable film on dirty underground politics. Would I recommend it? Only if you are into political films and/or have nothing better to watch. It's an honest 7/10 from me.
I found this film flawed, yet interesting and entertaining, and better than I expected.
The acting by all cast was on point, especially J.L. Curtis. The sound/score was decent. The directing and cinematography were well done by writer/director Joe Chappelle. But his writing is were the flaws showed. The too-long 102 min length, and extremely slow pacing made this film seem over 2 hours long. Many scenes were dragged out and unnecessary imo. Joe Chappelle's resume is mainly TV's shows, so going into a full length feature film clearly was a challenge for him. Had this films pace been sped up, and the screenplay edited/cut down to 60 (TV show length) - 80 min, it would have held the audiences attention better with constant uninterrupted suspense..
The premise of this political drama/(hardly a) thriller was actually very interesting, and the flashback scenes were done well, but most of the 'entertainment value' was the last 15-20 mins. The beginning was the slowest, focusing too much on unnecessary long or irrelevant scenes.
Still, an enjoyable film on dirty underground politics. Would I recommend it? Only if you are into political films and/or have nothing better to watch. It's an honest 7/10 from me.
Inferior Feature Should have been on Lifetime
arfdawg-131 January 2019
This is a really really bad movie.
Starts off with this chick named Libby staring into space. Cut to 4 years later. She's STILL staring into space.
That basically describes this movie. You'll be staring into space from boredom.
Exceedingly poorly written and directed. It's truly made like a Lifetime movie -- it's THAT cheesy.
There's no tension, no drama, no characters to care about. Jamie Lee Curtis seems way out of her element and reminds me of the kinds of flicks Stallone is in now where he just walks thru an delivers his lines. It's HORRIBLE.
Starts off with this chick named Libby staring into space. Cut to 4 years later. She's STILL staring into space.
That basically describes this movie. You'll be staring into space from boredom.
Exceedingly poorly written and directed. It's truly made like a Lifetime movie -- it's THAT cheesy.
There's no tension, no drama, no characters to care about. Jamie Lee Curtis seems way out of her element and reminds me of the kinds of flicks Stallone is in now where he just walks thru an delivers his lines. It's HORRIBLE.
Absolute thriller
kinghenry-6868125 July 2019
Wants to say something important
mancinibrown23 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
An Acceptable Loss wants to be an important, timely movie talking about the horrors of war. What it ends up being is a boring and illogical mess of a movie. The story gets lost in subplots, bad acting and terrible pacing.
Libby (Sumpter) was a former high ranking member of a white house staff who was the face of a decision that killed many innocent people. She was also involved in falsifying evidence to justify it. Now she's been welcomed as a guest professor at a university, but may not be safe there.
There is a clear stalker story that gets unbelievably turned on his head. All the students and staff at the college are terrible actors (the less said about the roommate the better). The story of the white house staff is the stuff of much better conspiracy stories.
This says nothing of the crazy past/present pacing. 5 minutes in the now, just to 10 seconds of the past, jump back, link it to the white house days. It's just nuts. Not hard to follow, but just very busy.
In the end this movie comes nowhere near being what it wants to be. It should be avoided.
Libby (Sumpter) was a former high ranking member of a white house staff who was the face of a decision that killed many innocent people. She was also involved in falsifying evidence to justify it. Now she's been welcomed as a guest professor at a university, but may not be safe there.
There is a clear stalker story that gets unbelievably turned on his head. All the students and staff at the college are terrible actors (the less said about the roommate the better). The story of the white house staff is the stuff of much better conspiracy stories.
This says nothing of the crazy past/present pacing. 5 minutes in the now, just to 10 seconds of the past, jump back, link it to the white house days. It's just nuts. Not hard to follow, but just very busy.
In the end this movie comes nowhere near being what it wants to be. It should be avoided.
Strong film. Why the low score?
dannypetty-7331615 July 2019
Not sure why such a low score. Well made, good acting, politically driven and undeniably believable in the real world.
I enjoyed this as a Sunday night film, I was interested and enjoyed it. Sure... it didn't blow my mind, I was aghast at what I was witnessing, I wasn't bowled over eyes peeled on the edge of my seat. But it was entertaining and a strong film... certainly wasn't a waste of time or anything so negative. Would def. recommend as a drama, political thriller type. Good cast too.
Give it a chance and see it through
lopezpatricia-0613928 July 2019
I was ready to switch off twenty mins in, but actually it's quite a good film. I think they could have cut it at 1h30 mins. Also the make-up got on my nerves, I mean how do you even make a black woman look washed out. At least put some mascara on her.
Nice idea, badly cast, no pace
robertasmith22 August 2019
The pace is to slow and the casting poor. There are flashes of Jamie Lee Curtis' acting ability but she is a little unbelievable in her role and is working with a bad script. The lead actor fails to convince as she does not have the screen presence to make it believable that she could have held such a senior security post. However, in these days of Trumpian politics anything is possible. The idea and storyline are good but they deserve a better screenplay, pacier direction and a change of cast. The 10/10 reviews are abviously planted and imdb shouldn't not allow such reviews to be published.
50 Mins into
martencoupons23 July 2021
Solid drama -- riveting tension
RodMartinJr27 April 2019
Libby (Sumpter) is hiding a dark secret that is eating her alive. From the very first scene in the movie, we know that Rachel (Curtis) has suborned Libby into a Faustian bargain -- selling her soul to the Devil for a few moments pleasing the minions of power. As Lord Acton so eloquently told us, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men...",
Both political parties have been guilty of this kind of abuse of power -- both Bush Jr. and Obama -- betraying their oaths of office. Though it seems to mock Republicans, it could just as easily have been about Democrats.
But this story is more intimate. It crawls under the skin of its protagonist, feeling the somber burden -- wincing at the finger pointing and uncomfortable looks from others.
Both Sumpter and Curtis deliver powerful performances. Sumpter, as Libby, lets us feel the heavy regret for having participated in a lie that killed so many. Curtis, as Vice President Rachel Burke, lets us see the mental gymnastics politicians go through to justify crimes against humanity.
Both political parties have been guilty of this kind of abuse of power -- both Bush Jr. and Obama -- betraying their oaths of office. Though it seems to mock Republicans, it could just as easily have been about Democrats.
But this story is more intimate. It crawls under the skin of its protagonist, feeling the somber burden -- wincing at the finger pointing and uncomfortable looks from others.
Both Sumpter and Curtis deliver powerful performances. Sumpter, as Libby, lets us feel the heavy regret for having participated in a lie that killed so many. Curtis, as Vice President Rachel Burke, lets us see the mental gymnastics politicians go through to justify crimes against humanity.
Boring
npjy8325 February 2019
I do not understand how anyone can give this full marks, especially as the story switches from past to present, back to last, to present and so on...confusing the viewer.
This movie has an "intense thriller" tag, but it was nothing of the sort. The man who stalked the woman was the only intense part of this movie, other than that, it was dry, boring and mundane.
The movie could have two parts, but rather than creating two separate movies, they amalgamated them into one movie, switching between the first part and the second part, which confused at times.
If you are looking for intense thrillers, then this isn't one for you. If you are looking for mundane, dry boring dramas which may confuse you, depending how tired you are, then this may interest you.
This movie has an "intense thriller" tag, but it was nothing of the sort. The man who stalked the woman was the only intense part of this movie, other than that, it was dry, boring and mundane.
The movie could have two parts, but rather than creating two separate movies, they amalgamated them into one movie, switching between the first part and the second part, which confused at times.
If you are looking for intense thrillers, then this isn't one for you. If you are looking for mundane, dry boring dramas which may confuse you, depending how tired you are, then this may interest you.
Intriguing and timely
lindsay-6057530 April 2019
An Acceptable Loss is intriguing and suspenseful- with great performances by JL Curtis and Tika Sumpter. Love the plot twist and great character development- with political suspense and surprising turns. This movie was much better than Vice which was plodding and slow. An Acceptable Loss made you think and after the movie generated interesting conversation from my friends - the sign of a good thoughtful drama.
Good thriller with a flaw
mariekevanderleij14 March 2024
We live in a dangerous world and showing kindness in a (terroristic) war can be a deadly flaw, as professor Libby teaches her students.
Warlords in human history either endure by imposing a reign of terror on their subjects and victims - or bow to more overwhelming aggression and end up dead (or in prison). Happy endings are reserved for Disneyland.
The movie almost closes when the wicked genius is revealed. It should have stopped there and I would have cranked up the score to a jubilant 9.
I found the closing scene to be a real bummer and contradictory to the content - ruining the message.
Warlords in human history either endure by imposing a reign of terror on their subjects and victims - or bow to more overwhelming aggression and end up dead (or in prison). Happy endings are reserved for Disneyland.
The movie almost closes when the wicked genius is revealed. It should have stopped there and I would have cranked up the score to a jubilant 9.
I found the closing scene to be a real bummer and contradictory to the content - ruining the message.
Not So Thrilling
jamesrrobison4 December 2019
Good movie, timely topic, lots of twists and turns
srobertson-7510328 January 2020
I enjoyed this movie - it was good to see Jamie lee Curtis again.
Interesting story about crooked politics.
It was a little slow to gear up but midway through the movie it really got moving.
I wish the ending would have expanded a little bit but at least you knew pretty much what happened,
Definitely one of the better movies I've seen in a while.
Give it a chance
mushroomheadnc22 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is definitely a slow burn & not for everyone.
It also has a few very big issues (ex. Martin sneaks in/out of Libby's house but gets caught on security cam buying a bus ticket? Why didn't Martin call Philip & ask to meet at a coffee house or something? Martin sends manuscript to Jordan via email? What if he deleted the email? What if the FBI intercepted? What can he do with it?) but it is an entertaining ride trying to figure out who did what to whom & why. It may also make you think about what exactly is "an acceptable loss". Did they kill the 6 men? What were the other two options? What exactly was the finagled information?
It also has a few very big issues (ex. Martin sneaks in/out of Libby's house but gets caught on security cam buying a bus ticket? Why didn't Martin call Philip & ask to meet at a coffee house or something? Martin sends manuscript to Jordan via email? What if he deleted the email? What if the FBI intercepted? What can he do with it?) but it is an entertaining ride trying to figure out who did what to whom & why. It may also make you think about what exactly is "an acceptable loss". Did they kill the 6 men? What were the other two options? What exactly was the finagled information?
Enjoyable although implausible
Aegina102826 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Virtually every aspect of this movie strains credulity: an intelligence genius who is apparently unaware of her own basement, "Dr. Mengele" bonding with the son of one of the victims in a matter of hours, the immense fame of a member of the VP's staff based on deliberations the public wasn't privy to.... I could go on. I don't think there's any aspect of the movie that could bear more than a moment's contemplation before appearing absurd. But the acting is good and the moral issues timely; it's an entertaining way to spend two hours.
What's was the point
imthebegottenson8 June 2020
I WAS excited to see this
steve-schmer31 August 2020
Don't waste your time. I thought it sounded intreaging. It is total BS! It is so far out there, yet trying to be a serious question about the state of affairs in our current political environment. Might as well be a fairy tale or maybe a sequel to Avatar without any visual appeal... It is serious leberal drivel. Even if you are a leftist it doesn't offer any logical thought or entertainment!
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