5/5 A bit slow in the beginning, but ultimately very good
  by Lemas Mitchell (Chengdu, Sichuan (China))
Short Attention Span Summary:

This was an "intersecting stories" type of movie a la "Pulp Fiction."

1. We see a mobster who is in the process of plotting to take over the business of his rivals. It is at this point that we learn that he can hold his breath for a long period of time under water. At the beginning of the movie, he is trying to beat some money out of someone that stole it from him (literally). He leaves because he has to go and see after his mother.

2. The mobster's associates try to kill him after a visit with his mother (the reason for which he had to interrupt the beating that started the movie) and his car veers off into a river. He manages to survive this attempt because of his underwater breathing exercises before.

3. There is a man and his wife. He is a septic tank cleaner and they want to have a child. He gets the bright idea to rob this old woman (who happens to be Mr. Mobster's mother) in order to get the funds to finance his wife's fertility treatment. Oops. Mr. Septic Tank is worried that the child will not be intelligent (it is painfully clear that he himself is not intelligent) and so the cost of the insemination also includes some way to ensure the intelligence of the offspring.

4. Later still, we are introduced to a deaf mute who works at the meat shop that takes care of the bodies that Mr. Mobster brings in from his activities. It seems that this person has a friendly relationship with the Septic Tank Cleaner. Later, Deaf Mute Guy wins a horse race for $47,000 (it seems that he lives a lonely life and his only outlet is betting at the race track from time to time). He knows about the bad things that Mr. Mobster does, and wants to kill him to make the world a better place.

5. Eventually, Mr. Mobster finds out that Mr. Septic tank stole his money, and orders his men to get the money back. Mr. Septic borrows the money from Deaf Mute Guy, but Mr. Mobster's workers kill him just the same. Mr. Deaf mute only finds this out because they send the body to him to dispose of-- and he finds out that he was not able to help a person whose life he thought he was going to save.

6. Finally, Mr. Deaf Mute goes to visit Mr. Mobster at his mother's house and kills him and all three of the men who killed Mr. Septic tank (who were also going to come to kill Mr. Mobster) for a very nice denoument.

As a post-script, the Deaf Mute man befriends the boy who is later born to Mr. Septic tank's wife (who, it is clear, is very smart).

This was a welcome change after watching "2012" (the updated version of the "Noah's Ark" story in the Bible). A film like that had lots and lots and lots of special effects, but ultimately a very pedestrian/ derivative plot. This film, however, was the polar opposite. They did very good work with a very low budget.

At the outset, the film was a bit slow. And listening to the soundtrack, I wasn't sure whether this was supposed to be a comedy or something more intense (like, say, Goodfellas).

Seymour Cassel ultimately stole the show, with his intense acting. (And this is a testament to the man's acting ability that he managed to do that in a wordless role.) The fact that his role had no words also shows how carefully the movie was written. (For example, Jasper's red socks being used to identify him later in the movie. For another, the buttons that he took from the shirt of the bodies of which he disposed being a way to keep track of the number of times that he had done such disposals.)

This was well worth the 5RMB and 2 hours that it took to watch it. Highly recommended.

3/5 "A Simple Plan" redux
  by Mary M
In a Fargo-ish effort, this film was pretty enjoyable. Good acting by everyone, especially, I thought, Sully's wife Mary. Just sit back and take it for what it is worth...not terribly philosophical or introspective at the time, but that may hit you later. A bit gruesome but you can take it. It adds color.

4/5 Entertaining
  by Trinity (CO USA)
Having been to Staten Island numerous times in the 80's, this was a nice revisit on our TV.
My wife and I both enjoyed it. Good plot. It isn't too high tension. It was just right for us.
Thanks to others' reviews, I don't regret the purchase.

1/5 gkardd
  by T. Samuels (Northern, Virginia)
Don't waste your $ - it wasn't worth buying the blu-ray version. I should have rented the dvd first before spending the blu-ray version.

3/5 More than a Little Weird!
  by Eileen M. Carlson (St.Louis)
The movie was really weird. I couldn't tell if it was a black comedy or failed drama. Definitely for people with different tastes.