No Way Home

REVIEW
A heavy-handed drama about an ex-con trying to adjust to his freedom, No Way Home boasts edgy performances, but not much else. The film's first half, in which Joey (Roth) returns home to his low-life brother Tommy (Russo) and his brother's wife (Unger), is extremely slow moving and unremarkable. Things pick up a bit when Tommy's mounting debts plunge him into a vortex of violence that may cost his brother his newfound freedom. The relationship that is forged between the long-suffering Lorraine and the shy Joey is better realized than the one between the brothers, yet the emotional core of the film is overwhelmed by some intense bloodletting. As always, Roth inhabits his character deeply, but it is Russo who gets the high-profile moments. Unger shines in her limited and unglamorous role.