With Covid-19 going on today, the plot here almost resembles it, but it does not. Granted there is a deadly flu like bug, and it is stolen from a lab, and it kills some people when it gets loose. There are really some problems though.
First there seems to be an effort at extortion by the thief stealing the bug. Trouble is there never seems to be a reason for the extortion that appears to make any sense. It's like they steal the bug and decide to kill people, contact and warn everyone they are going to do it, but don't really seem to have any reason to contact and warn everybody.
While there is a lot of good character actors, few of them are given much script to even try to act with. George Maharis has lots of lines but few memorable ones. This is one of the few films where the leads get to act but have nothing to act with. The support get nothing to act with and folks like Frank Sutton, Ed Asner, and. Richard Basehart. Really suffer from this.
Then by coincidence is poor LA. Ironically LA County has had more Covid-19 deaths and cases than any county and 16 states. Here they get saved but sadly get little comfort from being saved. The film is too busy doing James Bond type helicopter stunts to make anyone care about LA.
This film wastes a lot of talent. Even Sturges direction seems to be lacking here as the sequencing is poorly laid out. Fun it is not, sad it is.
First there seems to be an effort at extortion by the thief stealing the bug. Trouble is there never seems to be a reason for the extortion that appears to make any sense. It's like they steal the bug and decide to kill people, contact and warn everyone they are going to do it, but don't really seem to have any reason to contact and warn everybody.
While there is a lot of good character actors, few of them are given much script to even try to act with. George Maharis has lots of lines but few memorable ones. This is one of the few films where the leads get to act but have nothing to act with. The support get nothing to act with and folks like Frank Sutton, Ed Asner, and. Richard Basehart. Really suffer from this.
Then by coincidence is poor LA. Ironically LA County has had more Covid-19 deaths and cases than any county and 16 states. Here they get saved but sadly get little comfort from being saved. The film is too busy doing James Bond type helicopter stunts to make anyone care about LA.
This film wastes a lot of talent. Even Sturges direction seems to be lacking here as the sequencing is poorly laid out. Fun it is not, sad it is.