On a scale of 1-10

6- Very good acting. but in the end you are left with nothing. I felt that i wasted almost 2 hours of my life watching this.

5-6. Especially in comparison to Roskam's previous movie.

9/10

An expertly crafted, stupendously acted, fittingly gritty and relatively moving film. Not the type of film that ends with a big pay off, so to speak (that was the intention), but it’s a superb character-driven film that’s thoroughly captivating. A waste of time it ain't; as far as I’m concerned, it’s pretty rewatchable and its story concludes satisfyingly enough.

And lastly, while Hardy is particularly outstanding in this film, all the performances are fantastic (Rocco!). Fabulous score, too.

8/10