I rented this as a DVD, unaware that it was originally made for TV. The screenplay has obvious breaks in it where commercials are meant to go, and they were so emphatically built up that I kept reaching for the "mute" button on the remote!
The story itself works, and Baldwin does a good job of carrying off both the good guy and the bad guy role. The writer and director seem to have the good sense not to overdo things.
Take for example the kid characters. Two young girls, obviously hostage bait, and they end up in the bad-guy's hands more than once. They're cute, but they are neither too brainless or unreasonably savvy, and we've seen too much of both extremes in that role in similar films. The older one does some fairly clever thinking that adds to the story.
Less well convincing were the cops, who start out good when they doubting the hero's story, but actually become more passive as the show goes on.
Probably the best thing to watch is not the villain, but the villain's villain, Drew Oslett Jr. Thomas Church actually looks like he could be James Coburn's son. But it is character's internal pain that drives the whole story. Church does his best, but it would have been interesting to give him more screen time to do it in.
The "science" part of this movie is really skipped over; anyone not willing to suspend disbelief will be sorely unsatisfied.
All in all worth seeing for a weekend with nothing else to do.
The story itself works, and Baldwin does a good job of carrying off both the good guy and the bad guy role. The writer and director seem to have the good sense not to overdo things.
Take for example the kid characters. Two young girls, obviously hostage bait, and they end up in the bad-guy's hands more than once. They're cute, but they are neither too brainless or unreasonably savvy, and we've seen too much of both extremes in that role in similar films. The older one does some fairly clever thinking that adds to the story.
Less well convincing were the cops, who start out good when they doubting the hero's story, but actually become more passive as the show goes on.
Probably the best thing to watch is not the villain, but the villain's villain, Drew Oslett Jr. Thomas Church actually looks like he could be James Coburn's son. But it is character's internal pain that drives the whole story. Church does his best, but it would have been interesting to give him more screen time to do it in.
The "science" part of this movie is really skipped over; anyone not willing to suspend disbelief will be sorely unsatisfied.
All in all worth seeing for a weekend with nothing else to do.