I normally wouldn't write a spoiler for a review, but I find it necessary to pick this movie apart piece by piece 'cos the story was a load of Bull. First of all, I'm not sure which pisses me off more, the script writer that left so many holes in the story or the main character which Halle Berry played quite well. Suffice to say, while I find Halle's acting to be believable, I find the personality of the character she played quite confusing and unappealing. I really couldn't help disliking her and her choices from the beginning of the movie till the very end. I thought, "well, how stupid can she get" every five minutes. And here is why.
1. Why didn't she slam into the kidnappers' car when she had the chance at the stop light? I would think adrenaline was pumping at that moment the incidence just occurred and some more desperate howbeit reckless attempt would have been made to recover the boy.
2. It took her so long to get on the phone and call the cops while chasing the car that had her son. Really?! And don't tell us she lost her phone. All you need to do to attract the police in all 50 states is to rear end or side swipe a few cars and keep going. They will do the calling for you. She didn't as much as bash any other vehicle during the first half of the "desperate" chase.
3. She was driving like my granny.
4. The scene where a cop on a motorcycle attempted to pull her over was just so silly. All she had to was keep going when the cop asked her to pull over till he called it in and had other cops on the chase. well, another scene that made this character seem like an idiot.
5. So she offered up her financial instruments and didn't think to keep the pin as bargaining chip till she was at the point of ensuring an exchange then went ahead to let the kidnapper into her car... Not beside her, behind her. Then drove to a secluded highway. Why on earth would the kidnapper that has your son, your cards, your pin, keep you alive when the only thing keeping you from reporting the cards stolen is being alive? Is this character just daft or these is how people actually react when they are in crisis?
6. She overpowers and throws out a woman twice her size, positioned behind her while she is driving and being strangled at the same time out of a moving mini-van. All the while with door closed. The only script allowed to have that sort of impractical scenario is a James Bond movie. Absolutely unbelievable. The woman also came into her vehicle with no phones on her with which to alert her "boyfriend" when she was tossed from the car?
7. She actually stopped a stranger from getting run over by putting her vehicle between said stranger and a car about to run him over at a time she had the option of intercepting the kidnapper about to get away with her son. I believe natural instinct is self preservation before all else except a person has specific training to react otherwise in those circumstances. When i saw this scene, it didn't make her out to be a hero to me, I just felt she must not be trying to save her son.
8. It took her almost an hour into the movie after driving Miss Daisy behind the kidnappers for her to realize she could rear end the car... guess what? Right about the time the car was running empty on gas. *roll my eyes*
9. The kidnappers were painted not as newbies, but repeat offenders who did this for a living. Well, it didn't look like it. If they were pros, they had every opportunity to take the boy across state lines while the mum was taking a "cruise" around town.
10. Then there is the question of how the boy made it from the car with the male kidnapper to the house where the kids were being kept. One moment, the boy is in the car with the male kidnapper being chased by the mum in distress, the next moment, the mum is asking "where is my son?" and she's fishing for an ID on the kidnapper's lifeless body. #Sheish!
11. Kidnappers' Den. She sees a sawn off shotgun lying on a table and she leaves it. Really?! She's anti-gun?
12. The boat ploy was also dumb. If she could fool the woman, she couldn't fool a dog for a second. The dog would have gone for the water immediately and started barking not after she had fired off a few rounds into an empty boat which un-propelled was able to move away from a powerful flashlight that fast? Errmmm! Really?
So I guess the only thing you could consider smart about the main character was the fact that she was able to pick up on the "neighbour's" lie? Psssssh!
The main character was not properly developed and profiled. First acting conservative and unsure of what to do then later switching to aggressive, alpha personality. Every other thing that occurred in this plot was pure luck and stupidity on the kidnappers part. Well, I didn't see any well calculated attempt at recovering the child. The script is weak and empty. So thumbs down. I lost empathy for her and felt like smacking a head all though the movie maybe to knock a little sense into her. She should be loosing custody after this episode.
1. Why didn't she slam into the kidnappers' car when she had the chance at the stop light? I would think adrenaline was pumping at that moment the incidence just occurred and some more desperate howbeit reckless attempt would have been made to recover the boy.
2. It took her so long to get on the phone and call the cops while chasing the car that had her son. Really?! And don't tell us she lost her phone. All you need to do to attract the police in all 50 states is to rear end or side swipe a few cars and keep going. They will do the calling for you. She didn't as much as bash any other vehicle during the first half of the "desperate" chase.
3. She was driving like my granny.
4. The scene where a cop on a motorcycle attempted to pull her over was just so silly. All she had to was keep going when the cop asked her to pull over till he called it in and had other cops on the chase. well, another scene that made this character seem like an idiot.
5. So she offered up her financial instruments and didn't think to keep the pin as bargaining chip till she was at the point of ensuring an exchange then went ahead to let the kidnapper into her car... Not beside her, behind her. Then drove to a secluded highway. Why on earth would the kidnapper that has your son, your cards, your pin, keep you alive when the only thing keeping you from reporting the cards stolen is being alive? Is this character just daft or these is how people actually react when they are in crisis?
6. She overpowers and throws out a woman twice her size, positioned behind her while she is driving and being strangled at the same time out of a moving mini-van. All the while with door closed. The only script allowed to have that sort of impractical scenario is a James Bond movie. Absolutely unbelievable. The woman also came into her vehicle with no phones on her with which to alert her "boyfriend" when she was tossed from the car?
7. She actually stopped a stranger from getting run over by putting her vehicle between said stranger and a car about to run him over at a time she had the option of intercepting the kidnapper about to get away with her son. I believe natural instinct is self preservation before all else except a person has specific training to react otherwise in those circumstances. When i saw this scene, it didn't make her out to be a hero to me, I just felt she must not be trying to save her son.
8. It took her almost an hour into the movie after driving Miss Daisy behind the kidnappers for her to realize she could rear end the car... guess what? Right about the time the car was running empty on gas. *roll my eyes*
9. The kidnappers were painted not as newbies, but repeat offenders who did this for a living. Well, it didn't look like it. If they were pros, they had every opportunity to take the boy across state lines while the mum was taking a "cruise" around town.
10. Then there is the question of how the boy made it from the car with the male kidnapper to the house where the kids were being kept. One moment, the boy is in the car with the male kidnapper being chased by the mum in distress, the next moment, the mum is asking "where is my son?" and she's fishing for an ID on the kidnapper's lifeless body. #Sheish!
11. Kidnappers' Den. She sees a sawn off shotgun lying on a table and she leaves it. Really?! She's anti-gun?
12. The boat ploy was also dumb. If she could fool the woman, she couldn't fool a dog for a second. The dog would have gone for the water immediately and started barking not after she had fired off a few rounds into an empty boat which un-propelled was able to move away from a powerful flashlight that fast? Errmmm! Really?
So I guess the only thing you could consider smart about the main character was the fact that she was able to pick up on the "neighbour's" lie? Psssssh!
The main character was not properly developed and profiled. First acting conservative and unsure of what to do then later switching to aggressive, alpha personality. Every other thing that occurred in this plot was pure luck and stupidity on the kidnappers part. Well, I didn't see any well calculated attempt at recovering the child. The script is weak and empty. So thumbs down. I lost empathy for her and felt like smacking a head all though the movie maybe to knock a little sense into her. She should be loosing custody after this episode.