Familiar but well made

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2003)

This is one of those films that thank god doesn't meander to the shallow thinking of teens and young adults. It stays true to the script and original story without having a predictable (For the most part) ending tacked on. Here's a story that definitely is not what it seems. Story starts out with John Cusack as Ed. A limo driver and former police officer that is driving a movie star named Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca DeMornay) but its night and its in the middle of a violent storm and Ed accidently hits a woman in the road. Her husband is fixing a flat and their son Timmy (Bret Loehr) is in the back seat. They drive to a motel and try and use the phone but all the lines are down and the next town is 30 miles away and they cannot drive out because of the flooding. Others soon arrive because of the storm like a prostitute named Paris (Amanda Peet), A young couple who just got married, and a cop named Rhodes (Ray Liotta) who is transporting a prisoner (Jake Busey). They are all stuck and later the prisoner escapes. It doesn't take long before some of the group start popping up murdered or disappeared. Meanwhile, another part of the film has a midnight hearing on a killer who is scheduled to die the next day and his doctor (Alfred Molina) is trying to convince the judge that he is insane and didn't know what he was doing. The film is directed by James Mangold (Heavy, Cop Land, Girl Interrupted) and this is another good effort by him and he's slowly building a pretty impressive resume. I was one of those thinking that I was walking into just another thriller but this film is definitely not that. Instead, as the film unfolds it give you twists and turns that seemingly go into a strange direction until you find out what the real source of the story is. But even when you understand the basis of the story it gives you reasons to think. Fairly clever film is somewhat familiar like a "Twilight Zone" episode or maybe something by Brian DePalma so even though it keeps you guessing it dawns on you that similar material has been done like this before. It doesn't detract from this being well directed and shot. The cinematography is well handled with the constant rain being the main source for establishing an effective mood. All the actors are up to the task but its the direction and script that the emphasis should be laid upon. Good effective thriller that has a lot more going for it under the surface.