I've been watching a lot of 'thrillers' lately that seem to fly through theatres and straight to video faster than a taco in an intestine. Most of them have been average and then some are just barely watchable. Carjacked seemed interesting enough but it turned out to be more of a laughable B-Movie mistake that was slapped together and poorly made, directed and acted. Sherry and Michael Compton co-wrote this script and I have to assume it was made as some sort of cruel joke because it isn't the story that is necessarily bad, its the details in the film. The characters are annoying and the most likable character is the carjacker through most of the movie. Then when the woman who spends the entire movie trying to supposedly 'protect' her son finally gets away from the carjacker (even though she had MANY times to do so) the first thing she does is...call a school board to find her son...not the police because that wouldn't make sense? Every decision she makes is a laugh out loud joke that will have you rolling your eyes through the whole movie. While the dialogue in the movie isn't terrible, the details drag this through the mud.
Maria Bello is better than this crap. Her character is whiny and annoying and even though the film would have you believe she has some sort of epiphany and fights back, she doesn't. She gets lucky and makes a bunch of really stupid decisions that ends up okay for her. Bello is awful in the role because the role is awful. Stephen Dorff's performance as the bank robber and carjacker is sort of up and down. Sometimes its a good role, and sometimes he's as annoying as Bello. Their chemistry is barely existent but the dialogue between them is okay. Youngster Connor Hill is okay as Bello's son but he doesn't get a lot to work with and is victim to the same bad script as the rest of them.
The only thing that makes the film even remotely watchable is a few solid action scenes that come out of nowhere to surprise you, and a decent premise that gets lost in all the other crap. Director John Bonito has two credits to his name...the other being The Marine. So maybe the film makers wanted this to be some kind of bad B-movie Grindhouse type film but they failed at that if that is the case. The movie is just all around poorly made. There is no reason to sit through this even at a 5/10 because the only slightly redeemable qualities won't make up for the hour and a half you won't get back. 5/10
Maria Bello is better than this crap. Her character is whiny and annoying and even though the film would have you believe she has some sort of epiphany and fights back, she doesn't. She gets lucky and makes a bunch of really stupid decisions that ends up okay for her. Bello is awful in the role because the role is awful. Stephen Dorff's performance as the bank robber and carjacker is sort of up and down. Sometimes its a good role, and sometimes he's as annoying as Bello. Their chemistry is barely existent but the dialogue between them is okay. Youngster Connor Hill is okay as Bello's son but he doesn't get a lot to work with and is victim to the same bad script as the rest of them.
The only thing that makes the film even remotely watchable is a few solid action scenes that come out of nowhere to surprise you, and a decent premise that gets lost in all the other crap. Director John Bonito has two credits to his name...the other being The Marine. So maybe the film makers wanted this to be some kind of bad B-movie Grindhouse type film but they failed at that if that is the case. The movie is just all around poorly made. There is no reason to sit through this even at a 5/10 because the only slightly redeemable qualities won't make up for the hour and a half you won't get back. 5/10