It's not a big secret that what's lacking and what's wrong in our society starts with education. It starts with the way people are brought up, and what is put into their heads and put into their minds as engaged citizens.

I think everybody came into it with the understanding that they would go through an experience that is literally not by the book, that is not executing the script and then going home, but living and breathing these characters and being in the moment with each other, and improvising and creating a lot of present-tense intensity between characters.

So the only problem that you have is actually switch things in the department, changing things, controlling things, putting it maybe under federal supervision, and if you fix the department, you'll fix the problems - with police corruption, with brutality, with evidence tampering, all those things.

The damage that we do in the service of whatever motivates us in life has a direct effect, mostly on our kids.

If you look at it that way, then you start thinking about the basic things, which are jobs not jails, and education not incarceration.

I think the most emotional part in making the movie and discovering the movie - because it was a process of discovering - is all the scenes with the family.

Being in the moment with these guys was just a profound experience every day, and when we shoot a movie it's actually a very short process, especially an independent movie like this. It was only thirty five days of shooting.