I saw this for free on DVD while it was still in the theaters, as there is no way I would have spent a dime on a film like this. I did spend, however, almost two hours of my life remembering why I don't go into the theaters anymore. Since other negative reviewers have adequately covered what is wrong with this movie in detail, I'll just sum it up to say it is what would have been an average film or made for TV movie back in the days when they knew how to make movies properly. It is a mediocre sleeper flick, hyped up due to the fact that, compared to the other garbage movies that come out these days, it's a masterpiece. No one acts like a normal person, nothing realistic about anyone or anything in this "drama" and since when can cops just walk in and beat up people and suffer no repercussions? Oh, that's right, it's the Midwest! That stuff goes on all the time out there! And what's up with the billboards being so close together? Where in the world do you find billboards like that? Maybe people drove real slow on that road. If it didn't drag on so long, I might give it a five because it is, indeed, watchable, but it's a lame movie and totally overhyped. People giving more than five stars need to dig back into the archives--Hollywood actually knew how to make movies once and back in the day this would have been a forgettable time-waster on HBO after getting briefly shown in a handful of theaters.