"BASED on a true story" is always an uncomfortable tag to add to a film and the events fictionalised here are particularly uncomfortable as some of the culprits are yet to be tried.

The casting can't be faulted, with out-of-control kids all played by fresh-faced teen movie stars.

Emile Hirsch contrasts his persona from "The Girl Next Door" cleverly, while Justin Timberlake moves effortlessly into acting. Anton Yelchin particularly shines, topping his fantastic performance in Huff' and really bringing something to his innocent younger brother trying to do the right thing.

It's where the film tries to live up to its higher motives of social responsibility that it fails.

The mock documentary scenes which bookend the well-played drama don't sit well and likewise, when events have been altered and names have been changed it seems pointless to tag scenes with captions stating the time and numbering witnesses.

There is no sense of inevitability to the mood which means that for long stretches the story lacks cohesion but as events start to spiral, the filmmakers deserve some credit for maintaining the everyday atmosphere they've set, not giving the crime that results any undeserved spectacle.

AT