Defense attorney Richard Ramsay (Keanu Reeves) has known his new client Mike all his life. The teenager is accused of killing his dominating father Boone Lassiter (Jim Belushi). It doesn't help that Mike won't speak to Richard whose only strategy seems to be rope a dope. Mike's mother Loretta (Renée Zellweger) is concerned. Janelle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) joins the defense team.

There is a reveal at the end of the movie. I swear that one minute before the reveal, I thought that Ramsay needed more connections to the Lassiters. The plot needs more twists and turns before the reveal. Instead, it seems to concentrate all the twists into one big twist. There is obviously something hidden but it needs a better setup. While the courtroom stays just compelling enough, it could have been more and this could have been a great thriller.

Mike Lester (Garbriel Basso) is on trial for murder, found kneeling over the victim, prints on the weapon and confesses to the crime. Ramsey (Keanu Reeves) is a close friend of the family and his attorney who is trying to get Mike off, Mike who is not speaking. Mike's abusive father (Jim Belushi) was the victim. The only other person in the house was Mike's abused mother Loretta (Renee Zelleger) who was in the shower and Ramsey shows up rather quickly.

The film is a courtroom drama with flashbacks. It isn't hard to figure out all the twists. With Mike being much for mute of the film, there was a real lack of drama or urgency as Mike was content to go down with the crime.

Early in the film a woman enters a limo who looks like Britney while a Britney Spears riff is being played. BTW it does take place in Louisiana.

Guide: F-word. Abuse. Wife rape

The film tires to be just a little too clever with the final twist that brings the story to a conclusion. There are hints along the way that could help you figure out who killed Boone Lassiter (Jim Belushi),but it takes a while to get there. All the while you think Boone's son (Gabriel Basso) is taking the blame for his abused Mom (Renée Zellweger) for the murder, even though there was ample provocation and a good self defense argument to be made on his behalf. I actually thought the not guilty verdict was somewhat questionable given the defense strategy of attorney Ramsey (Keanu Reeves). What the courtroom scenes revealed more than anything else was the idea that character witnesses often have reason to lie, or at least not tell the whole truth about what they know in the interest of self preservation. Why son Mike didn't spill his guts on the real killer is probably the biggest mystery here, as he had no cause to protect Ramsey, even if he was a long time family friend. You would think his devotion to his mother would have been the clincher.