Dwayne Johnson plays a father who enters the drug underworld to save his son in a movie based on a true story.

    John Matthews (Johnson) is willing to risk his life to try and prevent his teenage son Jason (Rafi Gavron) from serving* 10 years in prison under mandatory*-sentencing laws for having made one stupid mistake.

    The exciting part is how he goes about it: getting involved with some very unsavory* characters while trying to preserve a vestige of* his morality and stay alive.

    Inspired by a Frontline report about an aspect of the law that allows for reduced time in exchange for* informing on* drug dealers, the script by Justin Haythe (“Revolutionary Road”) and director Ric Roman Waugh sounds familiar but goes deep enough with character detail and legal* issues to make it different from other drug- and crime-related films.

    Jason gets sent away for ill-advisedly* accepting delivery of a box full of Ecstasy* as a sort-of favor for a friend and also in order to try it with his girlfriend.

    Unwilling to rat his friend out*, Jason is tossed into the pen*, where he’ll be as helpless as a rabbit in a foxhole.

    His mother (Melina Kanakaredes) lashes out at* John, her ex, while the only solution offered by U.S. Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) is for Jason to offer evidence* against another drug dealer, but he truly doesn’t have any.

    The biggest drama the film offers is that John — an honest guy who runs a shipping company but feels guilty for not being a good father — would persuade the attorney to accept another plan. He himself would deliver drug dealers to her in exchange for his son’s freedom.

    (SD-Agencies)