The Lesser Evil (1998) User Reviews

The Lesser Evil: Should have been SO much better

[Platypuschow · 5/10 · 11 August 2018]

I immediatly found myself engrossed into The Lesser Evil, it's strong cast and fascinating plot gripped me and I expected something really quite special.

Alas it wasn't to be, but the film certainly does have it's merits regardless.

It has a real Stephen King feel to it, telling the story of 4 friends who meet up for the first time in 20yrs and are forced to face their sins. Set across both present and flashbacks I'm almost surprised it's not Kings work.

Starring several industry veterans including Colm "Storm of the Century" Feore and David Paymer along with current popular comedy star Adam Scott the performances were never going to be in question.

The plot starts off strong but starts to struggle, by the end it's devoid of originality and the fascination had long since waned.

This is one of those films that genuinely saddened me as I hoped for something really quite good here. It's still interesting and the cast are fantastic, but it feels like potential not only squandered but thoroughly butchered.

The Good:

Some competent writing

The Bad:

Some of the young to old casting is awful

Loses steam

Naff finale which doesn't really make much sense

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Religion isn't part of reality, wait no I already knew that

A teenage prank gets out of hand. Suspense prevails.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 21 September 2001]

A very talented double cast of characters and excellent use of flashbacks makes for a very good dark drama. Four young friends meet in an abandon quarry and a devious prank turns into an accidental double murder. The four go their separate ways and meet again as adults when the authorities get close to solving the crime by tracing the gun back to one of the four. Now the four turn on each other in order to protect themselves.

The four adult friends are played by David Paymer, Tom Goldwyn, Arlis Howard and Colm Feore. Their younger counterparts are Adam Scott, Jonathan Scarfe, Marc Warden and Steven Petrarca. Both sets of actors were brilliant. Not exactly predictable and enough tension to curl the hair on the back of your neck. One minute you feel sorry for each of these characters and then a few moments later you want to slap a knot on them yourself. Suspense and nail biting galore. You wear yourself out just watching.

Gripping indie film makes heavy use of flashbacks...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 10 May 2009]

A clever use of combining past and present to explain what is happening on screen is used throughout THE LESSER EVIL by director Jack Mackay. The story basically involves men who made a bad mistake in the past and have had their crime affecting their lives ever since. A reunion proposed by one of the men turns into something more than a mere gathering of old friends--and leads to another crime.

This is an independent film without wide distribution and it's little known among fans of the suspense genre. It's worth watching for the more than competent performances from a splendid cast, particularly the adult actors COLM FEORE, TONY GOLDWYN, ARLISS HOWARD and David PAYMER.

It's more a character study of the four friends than a straight thriller, but as the story unwinds--after a beginning narrated by ARLISS HOWARD as a priest giving a graveside sermon on a dead friend--it keeps switching back and forth between past and present to explain what is happening, each aspect of the story made clearer by revealing the past crime concurrently with the present action.

It's an effective way of telling a complex story of guilt and fear brought on by the killing of an individual and the extremes the four went to in an effort to cover up the crime.

The twist at the end comes as a surprise because nothing about the story is predictable. It's a well done independent film and one well worth seeing.

Lessons Learned

[nightprincess6969 · 22 September 2004]

I liked this movie. Yes, the plot twist at the end was awesome--never saw that coming! The actors chosen to play the parts was EXCELLENT!!! Colm Feore is a top-notch actor, and he was the main reason I wanted to watch--anything he acts in is Outstanding! This movie had a Lesson--everything we do in life stays with us--the mistakes of the past, when unresolved, follow us until we do resolve them in some way. The guys, however, choose to keep their past secret and poor Derrick was the..........Nah, you can figure that out when you watch the movie! ;) You know, Why this Movie is titled, The Lesser Evil! :)

An engrossing, well crafted drama.

[=G= · 7/10 · 2 March 2001]

"The Lesser Evil" tells of four grown men who have been keeping a secret since they were close friends in high school some 20 years in the past. Something has happened to bring them together again. The drama unfolds with the telling of two stories, past and present, with two casts of actors. The film whets interest, gathers momentum, and builds anticipation leading to a denouement which delivers a kick and nicely ties up the loose ends. A well crafted film with only a few subtle flaws required to make the story work, "TLE" is an engrossing, fast moving watch.

Surprisingly good

[Spaceygirl · 6/10 · 16 July 2007]

I caught this on the local Action channel and was expecting mindless entertainment, or as we say in South Africa, "Skop, skiet en Donner", translation: "shooting, kicking and beating up". :) Boy, was I wrong! This film is much too cerebral to be on an action channel whose main attraction is a Steven Seagal festival! It's brilliant. It has such a good story that grips you from start to finish. The acting is outstanding, all the male leads are superb, Colm Feore, David Paymer and Arliss Howard putting in usually good performances.The script is excellent and the cinematography top notch for what is essentially a B-movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can recommend it highly.

A story of paranoia, denial, and murder.......

[merklekranz · 7/10 · 21 September 2008]

The plot is excellent, the execution somewhat confusing, and the surprising ending totally acceptable. I enjoyed "The Lesser Evil", but constantly found myself questioning who was who, as the film bounced back and forth between present day, and twenty two years earlier. Boldly depending on four teenage friends to keep a lifelong secret, the plan eventually spirals out of control, leading to paranoia, double crosses, and another murder. The outcome is always in doubt, which maintains interest through the entire 96 minutes. David Paymer is a standout as the lawyer who seems intent on self preservation rather than commitment to his cronies in crime. - MERK

"The Lesser Evil" is a taut, unforgettable cinema suspense classic.

[Hup234! · 10/10 · 29 March 2000]

And its reputation to that end will grow as word-of-mouth continues to spread about this utterly gripping film, a sordid tale of four carefree young friends whose lives forever are changed within one instant.

From the start, we are drawn into an inexorable spiral of almost unrelieved tension. An embarrassing encounter wounds the boys' pride, leading first to rash, childish posturing, immature decisions, and then to a mistaken identity in an abandoned quarry. The story becomes a steamroller in overdrive, as suspicions mount and personal loyalties melt away, overwhelmed by uncomprehending panic, sheer desperation, and the drive towards individual survival.

No other film I've seen has ever led me to as much ongoing "what would I do?" self-introspection. The once-secure bonding among the four young men collapses, replaced by terror and the fear of discovery. This descent into the "eat-or-be-eaten" dark side is part of the relentless march away from civility that captivates us throughout.

You'll not forget this film, its powerful imageries, and its fine cast's potent portrayals of psychological interplay. (Watch for legendary radio actor Mason Adams as the father of the deceased.) Highly recommended to adults.

Dull, silly, and totally predictable

[fubared1 · 4/10 · 24 June 2005]

One or 2 good performances, but other than that this is total waste of time. Poorly directed with a totally predictable 'twist' ending that is thoroughly unsatisfying. In fact the only reason I am offering a review for this little mess is because of all the 'good' reviews. How people can be so taken in by this crap these days is beyond me. About the only thing interesting in this flick is when one of the young boys moons one of the others. The fact that none of the 'older' men looks a thing like his young counterpart doesn't help the confusion. It took me till almost the end of the movie to figure out which kid went with which adult, but then I cared so little about any of the characters that I didn't really bother to try. Oh, there is at least one other good thing about this. The fact that the murderer turns out to be a Catholic priest. At least that much is true. Now if they had only made him an alcoholic child molester as well, they would have gotten the character right.

Four friends gather to discuss an old crime

[blanche-2 · 9/10 · 5 August 2008]

"Lesser Evil" is a 1998 film starring Colm Feore, David Paymer, Tony Goldwyn and Arliss Howard. It's very well directed by David Mackay, and the script by Jeremy Levine and Steven Schultze is excellent. The film starts at a funeral presided over by a priest (Howard) who then tells the story in flashback. As teenagers, four buddies - Ivan (the priest, played as a young man by Marc Worden), George (Alan Scott/Paymer), Derek (Jonathan Scarfe/Feore) and Frank (Steven Petrarca/Goldwyn) are being crazed, drunken, out of control lunatics in the woods when George (Adam Scott/Paymer grown up) shoots into a car, gravely injuring the driver. The driver has a shotgun on his lap. He also has something else, which is revealed later in the film. The kids become completely hysterical and, as the man isn't dead but seems close to it, they attempt to rush him to a hospital. Then they change their minds and take him back to the woods, where he dies hours later, helped along by one of them when they see police lights.

Twenty years later, the gun that killed the man has surfaced, and the police question its owner, Derek (Feore), who has called them all together. George has become an attorney, Frank a police officer, Ivan a priest, and Derek's business is failing. He has made a mess of talking to the police and is a wreck. Ivan thinks they should go to the police and tell them what happened all those years ago, though they had all made a pact to protect George and keep quiet. Then they realize that George has been getting everything on tape and that Frank has been keeping a big secret from them all these years.

Fascinating story of the ramifications of guilt even after "getting away" with something and how guilt molded the lives and personalities of each man and changed their relationships with one another. In that way, it's a tiny bit like "Mystic River." With Colm Feore in it, the acting can be nothing less than spectacular. He is one of my favorite actors, having seen in perform at Stratford in Canada several times. The leads are all excellent, and the young men who play them as teens are superb.

There's a twist at the end. You won't want to miss this superlative drama that could only come from an independent filmmaker, as Hollywood is too busy with cartoon characters and blowing up things.

diamond in the rough

[ericmcd · 9/10 · 22 June 2001]

This is an excellent film, and was a very pleasant suprise, to say the least. I'm amazed, however, at the lack of online information for "The Lesser Evil". It's a shame it hasn't gotten much attention, because this is a very well done, totally gripping film, with a twist ending I never saw coming. If you like your movies suspenseful, thought-provoking, and unpredictable, check this one out...you won't be disappointed.

Well crafted psychological drama

[FlickJunkie-2 · 9/10 · 16 February 2000]

This film was one of the best I've seen of its kind in quite some time. This is a psychological drama about four friends, who 22 years ago unintentionally committed a double homicide and then successfully covered it up. Now the police have discovered one of the bodies and a gun they can link to one of the four. The story unfolds as the friends, who haven't spoken since the event, come together to decide how to handle the situation. Throughout the drama, the story flashes back to the original story when they were teenagers, so you really have two suspenseful interconnected stories unfolding simultaneously.

The film shows the twisted judgments made by desperate men in a crisis situation. It was difficult not to be asking oneself, `What would I do in that situation?' I really only had one plot criticism and that is why did the police not ask about the destroyed TV set? If you see the film, you will know what I mean.

The film was excellent in almost every regard. The story was gripping with numerous plot twists that kept the viewer guessing as to what would happen next, all the way to the end. The portrayals of these frantic characters on the brink of distraction, desperately trying to come up with a solution that would keep them out of jail was riveting. The direction and photography was very good, without the need for special sets or effects.

The acting was terrific. Colm Fiore was outstanding as Derek, the owner of the gun who was being questioned by the police. He plays a character who is simultaneously terrified, despondent, angry and devious and switches back and forth between these states flawlessly. David Paymer gives the best performance I've seen by him to date as the underhanded lawyer trying to shift blame away from himself. Even Tony Goldwyn, who often comes off a little stiff, gave an excellent performance.

The acting by the young cast was also marvelous. It was a commendable job by casting and director David MacKay to find four actors who resembled the older actors so much and still had the talent to play their parts so convincingly. Of these, Marc Worden who played young Ivan was a particualar standout.

MacKay's best accomplishment was his ability to convincingly draw the right emotional mix out of the cast. The hand held flight scenes in the woods were well done and enhanced the dramatic effect. There was one scene with George (David Paymer) brandishing a hand gun that was done with a wide angle lens that was a bit amateurish (it made it look like he was holding a howitzer), but otherwise the camera work was well done with visual perspectives that enhanced the impact of the scenes.

MacKay's weaving of the two stories (past and present) in post production was masterful and kept the film moving at breakneck speed. Just when you needed an explanation to put some present event in context, there was the next flashback, as if the director anticipated the questions the viewer was asking himself.

Overall, this was a taut, well crafted film. It was great to see a low budget independent film with so much entertainment value. I gave it a 9/10. Hunt it down and find it at your local video store. You won't regret it.

Major cudos to the writer.

[bayou52 · 8/10 · 3 September 2001]

I gave this movie an 8 and after voting instantly wished I'd given it a 9. The cast, those playing the 4 main characters in the present and in the past, did an excellent job. The best acting performances were turned in by David Paymer and Adam Scott as "adult George" and "young George" respectively. I checked my skin a couple of times to make sure the slime hadn't slithered off of him and made it's way through the ether to my living room. But I think the real talent here was that of Jeremy Levine who write the script. I visited IMDB specifically to see if the story had been taken from a short story but evidently it wasn't. It was just plain good writing and even the heavy use of flashback, rather than slowing down the suspense, actually enhanced it. It was the classic writer's technique of starting with a simple situation and piling on complication after complication until the suspense is unbearable. He did it extremely well and it worked.

Enjoyed seeing this suspenseful indie at the first San Diego Film Festival, June 1998.

[romar-2 · 9/10 · 9 March 1999]

"The Lesser Evil" was the opening film at the first San Diego International Film Festival in June 1998. This suspenseful drama reveals the terrifying events that take place when four high-school friends make a big mistake. The story is told in flashbacks as the four, now adults, meet again to try to maintain the secret they have kept for years. Several surprises and one really scary night in the woods will hold your interest. The double cast, one for the early events and another for the present, is quite good.

Better thriller than given credit for

[bellino-angelo2014 · 8/10 · 26 April 2023]

THE LESSER EVIL isn't certainly a movie seen by many. After all, it has only 23 reviews, and mixed ones at that. Yet, despite this, I found it on Youtube and since I have to feed my masochist side, I saw it and I ended up liking it more than I was led to believe.

Derek Eastman (Colm Feore), George (David Paymer), Frank (Tony Goldwyn) and Ivan are four long time friends that are reunited after they become suspects for a murder that happened when they were on their 20s. So they go in a cabin in the woods and discuss of all the reasons that took them for committing the act and they have to decide who has to take the blame or they all will be convicted.

Despite it's mostly set in the cabin in the woods I appreciated that it switched with the scenes of the leads when they were younger and I liked the performances by the leads. And the ending... that was certainly a surprise. Not an excellent thriller but a decent one if you have to spend an hour and a half at home.

A very good film, just not as amazing as some make it out to be.

[cheesemaster696 · 8/10 · 29 July 2006]

I won't go on describing the plot outline as you can get that from just about any other review on here. All I will say is that the film is far above the expectations of most people, but in truth isn't as amazing as some people make it out to be.

It is well written and directed and the acting is reasonably good. The "brilliant twist" at the end to me felt like it was done just to follow the formula of these films, and didn't really feel like it was a natural part of the script. Also, it was quite predictable.

But don't dismiss it, and if you have a chance do watch it, it won't be a waste of your time (unless your idea of a good film is Vin Diesel shooting things or racing flash cars for 2 hours).

Why have so few people seen this wonderful movie?

[Saracia · 1 December 2003]

i give this movie a nine and a half out of ten, it's one of the best movie's that i've ever seen. it was just a great movie, well acted, the direction was well done, the only things i didn't like were the actions of some of the characters. however, the movie was so well done, and the ultimate question posed was so interesting (and so well expressed) that this movie seems nearly flawless.

tangled web of deception keeps you guessing

[billpolcheck · 10/10 · 17 September 2003]

Four men reunite after 25 years to face a murder they covered up. The story is tangled web of deception that keeps you guessing by cutting to the past to reveal the lies the central characters tell each other. Every time you think you understand a characters motives your shown something that puts everything you thought you knew into doubt. A very cerebral film that kept me guessing right up to the end.

Good movie but they ruined the plot...

[NickRisch · 9/10 · 7 September 2003]

Why did they have to ruin the plot at the beginning, when the priest (Arliss Howard) mentions that they had to kill one of them? If they had left that part out, the story would have far more suspenseful, especially the last scene in the cabin. Remember in the movie "Seven" (Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman)? Now that ending blew me away; not a hint about how that was playing out. Otherwise this movie is a must-see. The writing was brilliant, except for the spoiler part.

Past and present woven together to create a surprisingly cunning plot about betrayal amongst friends

[samwaterssam · 10/10 · 6 July 2005]

A simple re-union amongst four old friends, dredges up a horrile secret that threatens to ruin all their lives. The story delivers great suspense and keeps one guessing at the ending. You can't take anything the characters say at face value which keeps the viewer engaged, trying to figure out who is lying and why. The pace of the dialogue and the frenzy of the growing dilemma ratchets up the tension as things progress. The acting is strong, but the story really gripped me. Every time I thought I figured out the truth the filmmakers revealed something from the past that made me rethink the story. The cinematography added to the sense of mystery and foreboding that hangs over the characters. Great lighting. Great Noir mood. This film reminded me of "Stand by Me". I highly recommend this film.

Thought provoking suspense

[og-6 · 10/10 · 27 September 1999]

A great movie that forces you to think. The characters aren't simply drawn in black and white, but deal in complex shades of grey. The film kept me guessing up to the very last scene. Whatever you do don't walk away from the television without pausing your VCR or you'll miss an important clue to the mysteries that the film unravels.

A smart Director matched with a solid, twisted story.

[rooster-9 · 10/10 · 29 September 1999]

I found this film to be one of substance that is sure to endure. The plot comes complete with solid characterization and twists that must be kept a secret. As a film savvy viewer, I feel that this film makes use of smart direction and very good action, especially from the relatively unknown young actors. It was engaging and certainly a worthy

Intelligent dramatic thriller

[manoffoa · 23 September 1999]

This film is a really intelligent dramatic/thriller. Its story is about four high school friends who must face the consequences of their actions after they are involved in a killing and the subsequent cover up. The film is as much about the mystery of what happened as it is about revealing who the friends really are as teenagers and as adults. The characters feel really human, and instead of giving us a stock conclusion, the filmmakers leave us questioning how we would handle the same circumstances.