Parents' Guide to The Ravine

Grim from the get-go, this true-crime thriller is a confusing drudge that has good intentions but terrible execution. That's partly because we're watching the catharsis of first-time producers/screenwriters Robert and Kelly Pascuzzi (who wrote the book the film is based on), who are trying to create something positive out of real-life tragedy. Indeed, the Pascuzzis turn the loss of their friends into something good for them, but there's just nothing here for anyone else. Many spiritual messages blow through, almost making sense, rising and then disappearing like hot air.

The Ravine's problems are many. The acting and cinematography are fine, but the writing and direction are not, with lengthy exposition, speeches, and the cliche of giving the movie's one Black character special powers. It's also odd that one of the movie's speeches is about treasuring the dead, because the film does not. Viewers are given little to no meaningful information about the victims. And it feels downright disrespectful that instead of cutting away from the gruesome moments, the slayings of the wife and son are shown in horrific detail, on repeat. Plus, the psychological examination of the troubled husband/perpetrator is oddly sympathetic: We learn that Danny Turner (Peter Facinelli) was a popular high school football hero who went to jail for breaking into a house and beating a man nearly to death. In a development intended to show the power of forgiveness, the victim of that crime speaks up on Danny's behalf to get him released early. He makes good for while, but then he murders his family, so the take-away is problematic. But ultimately, the film's focus isn't on the players in the homicide, it's on the suffering of their friends, the Biancis. And other than tousling the surviving child's hair, the couple seem to have little involvement in the terrible events beyond their own narcissism of making a horrible tragedy all about them.