Quick Look: Stone (2010)

I figured a movie starring Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton, and Milla Jovovich had to be worth a look, and at least worth the proverbial "price of admission".  I was wrong.  How to describe this ... I can see where the director/writer/producer wanted to go, but it ended up like a half done connect the dots picture.  I usually can find something worth at least a look in most movies, for some audience, but I cannot for Stone.

It's a drama, and the premise of the movie is this: Gerald "Stone" Creeson (Norton) is in prison doing a 15 year sentence being an accomplice to his grandparents murder - his cousin killed them, Stone burned their house down right after that.  He is up for parole, and Jack Mabry (DeNiro) is his parole advisor (he makes recommendation to the parole board and warden after multiple interviews with the potential parolee) who is a few weeks away from retiring.  Stone comes into the first interview basically pleading to get out.  Lucetta Creeson (Jovovich) attempts to seduce Jack, to aid in Stone getting out, as well.  Thus, the film's events are set in motion.

 **spoiler alert** The Creesons are portrayed as white-trash, and Mabry appears to be the straight and narrow sort, except we are shown signs of underlying problems with his family life.  Here is where the movie completely loses me - Stone, after his 2nd or 3rd interview with Jack, supposedly has an epiphany and is now at ease with himself and his place in the world.  He does not seem to even care if he gets paroled.  Jack basically comes undone - he has an affair with Lucetta and otherwise crumbles at work.  Stone is paroled on Jack's recommendation (more to be free of the Creeson's), but Jack later learns Stone is unrepentant for the arson, because of the previously noted epiphany.  Jack's house is later burned down, and while we might think it was Stone, it probably wasn't.  Jack tracks Stone down and threatens to shoot him for he arson, but Stone politely informs Jack "he won't do it".
I think, and let me emphasize "think", we are supposed to believe that Stone was truly reformed; that Jack was a borderline sociopath who is actually a lower life form than Stone; that Jack's wife was a victim throughout their marriage; that Lucetta is and forever will be white-trash; and finally that people can, somehow, connect, almost religiously to their place in the universe.  Unfortunately this movie did not connect anything together in a meaningful way that I could call entertaining, informative, or otherwise worth seeing.