Lots of Hollywood stars try action flicks and fail. Bruce Willis may be the king of them, because it comes so natural for him. Here, Willis (DIE HARD) plays Jeff Talley, a former SWAT officer from L.A., who moves away from the big, nasty city to get way from crime. But that’s never how it works out in films like this one.
Walter Smith (Kevin Pollak, INDIAN SUMMER) is a rich man involved in what seems like a shady deal. One night, three young teens follow him and his family home from the store with the intention to steal his SUV. But when the cops show up, the situation spirals out of control. The gang of teens includes the angry, impetuous leader Dennis (Jonathan Tucker, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES), Dennis’ tag-along, little brother Kevin (Marshall Allman, LITTLE BLACK BOOK) and the twisted Mars (Ben Foster, NORTHFORK). They knock out Walter and tie up his kids — rebellious teen Jennifer (Michelle Horn, TV’s STRONG MEDICINE) and smart 9-year-old Tommy (Jimmy Bennett, THE POLAR EXPRESS). This hostage situation throws a wrinkle into Walter’s shady deal and forces the masked villains to kidnap Talley’s family and force him to get their precious computer disk from the house.
The taut screenplay keeps the action flowing and develops its characters quickly. Much of the plot is dictated by the actions of the three angry, but scared teens. They are the true highlight of the film. The outside tension of the kidnapping of Talley’s family is purely external, but does add some interesting duality to the tension in some scenes. Willis’ character does some questionable things (and one that’s so questionable it’s really out of character), but it all adds to the overall fever pitch of the film.
Director Florent Emilio Siri — in his first English language film — brings a nice style to the movie especially toward the end. His use of fire is creepy. As thrillers go, this one is fast paced and thrilling and is based on the characters in this situation and not arbitrary action and plot twists like so many other thrillers.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
