Customer Reviews

Oxygen [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's been a long time since I've seriously blind bought a DVD or video. I normally go the rental way. But as I was passing through ... I stumbled upon this interesting film. It was called OXYGEN. I later discovered it was made for Showtime Television, as an original movie. I can see why, it's a potentially taught thriller, that's half realized.

Maura Tierney (Scotland PA) stars as Madeline Foster, a New York City Cop with a few humiliating secrets. Adrien Brody, (The Pianist) is Harry, a psychopath who has buried a women (Laila Robins, True Crime) alive in an elaborate extortion plot. When Harry refuses to talk to anyone but Foster, these two lives are caught in a dangerous cat and mouse game, and a women's life is at stake.

For what it's worth this is a well thought out thriller here. The elements are there to create a taught and fairly compelling cat and mouse game. But as the pieces fall into place, you realize its foundation is a house of cards and in the end everything is a little forced.

I think the biggest problem is that Brody's character knows too much. He puts two and two together far faster than even the audience does. For instance, he notices cigarette burns on Foster's arm. Instantly he jumps to a conclusion, that while true, takes a leap far to big for it's own good.

Tierney's character doesn't fare much better. The screenplay by Writer/Director Richard Shepard (The Linguini Incident) is too vague about her. Creating tension that goes nowhere. She's fighting demons of course, but does she do it for Alcohol? To give into some crazy fetish? Since the movie only makes a feeble attempt to sort out her problems, it falls flat. Every explanation comes from Harry's mouth a man she's never met before and I don't think he's that bright.

But on a positive note, Tierney and Brody are excellent in their roles. Even if I didn't buy the premise, those two actors are just so damn watchable. Tierney is like the girl next door with edge, the camera loves her, and she's so good at everything I've ever seen her do. I like how her performance transcends the material. She brings it all up a notch, something that a lesser actress would struggle with. Her performance reveals a woman who is struggling, even if the struggles are a little trite and silly.

Furthermore, Brody makes a great psycho. I liked everything about his character. I love how there is never a moment that he feels cornered. He runs the show at every minute. Like Harry Houdini (in which the story makes frequent reference too), Brody's character is an escape artist, with a sarcastic edge. In a better film this kind of character could win him an Oscar. Hmm.... I wonder if they ever did Hannibal Lecter: The Early Years, if they would consider hiring Brody? He's that good here.

OXYGEN is a half realized but watchable film. It wears its flaws on its sleeve. But it also has two really great performances in it. So do I recommend you see it? If you're nit-picky like me, than you probably won't like it. If you can give a movie its due despite it's many flaws, than yes.

*** out of 5

"Oxygen" is a crime drama starring Maura Tierney (of NBC's "NewsRadio") as a cop with a troubled personal life investigating a kidnapping. Adrien Brody plays the kidnapper three years before he burst forth as "The Pianist".

The plot follows Tierney's flawed personal decision-making processes and her involvement with the kidnapping investigation, where she forms a bizarre bond with the criminal played by Brody.

This is a cliche-ridden but absorbing crime drama featuring the two charismatic leads and a host of faces familiar from other movies. Brody's psychological portrait of the bad guy is probably the signature characterization in the film although most men (this is a "guy" movie, after all) will be riveted to Tierney, whose one dimensional role is simultaneously pathetic, sexy, vulnerable, and attractive.

There is one wonderful scene very early in the flick -- that is stylistically ripped off from "The French Connection" -- where the female lead chases a bad guy under a train in live camera action. Don't miss this good early feature!

This movie entertained me all the way through until that silly contrived ending, where a bunch of things happen that are so incredible as to be just plain dumb. Check out Brody in "Love The Hard Way", another movie he made where he plays a less than flavorful character.

This one was very hard to find. Hidden behind six SIXTH SENSE and five DOUBLE JEOPARDY dvd's at my favorite video store. That's a peculiar pleasure, and not the least, for the movie lover to discover a little pearl amidst the hollywoodian dinosaurs. So surprise, surprise ! Firstly, The jacket announced a special widescreen copy ; Nada ! just a pan & scan version, the movie killer by excellence as any movie buff knows it. Then a look at iMDB told me that OXYGEN was a TV-movie, but, in the user section, a reviewer was certifying that OXYGEN had been shown in two theaters ! What a salad ! (french expression).

Let's go back to Richard Shepard's movie which star Maura Tierney and Adrien Brody. Miss Tierney plays the character of a woman detective of the NYPD, married to her chief, and with a slight booze problem. On the other hand, Adrien Brody is a charming young man whose principal activity is to bury alive the women of wealthy men in order to obtain some money while the poor victims are suffocating. Well, that's a story !

And that's not the end of it ! Just imagine that Adrien Brody is also a fan of Harry Houdini, the famous magician of the beginning of the XXth century and likes to play with the nerves of the cops by escaping from the most unusual places. You also are going to appreciate the manner Richard Shepard,with subtlety, plays with one of the most common of cinematographic themes : vampires.

In short, OXYGEN is a very good surprise with excellent actors, it's a nervous little thriller with enough beef to please the most blasés movie lovers.

A commentary and the usual trailers and filmographies. Good sound but average images.

A DVD dedicated to my mother-in-law.

Oxygen is the type of movie that would interest anyone who likes a good thriller. The movie was very well acted, and Adrien Brody does a splendid job of interpreting the character of the sadistic Harry. Maury Tierney also stars as the detective out to catch him. The two share a chemisty on camera that is quite unique and adds to the tension and yet similarities between the two extremely different characters.

I was glad to see Adrien Brody graduated on to bigger and better things after making this flick. This is just a really LAME movie. *SPOILER ALERT* OK, this woman is buried alive and it's been 24 hours, probably more than that before she is uncovered. All science points to the near-certainty that she is dead by then. When she's found, she is not only not gasping for air, she PLAYS dead for a few seconds and then magically SPRINGS out of the box and knocks Houdini silly with her flashlight. HAHAHAHA! And I thought HE was supposed to be Houdini! * END SPOILER ALERT* And that was great how a dozen cops were staked out at the graveyard, and when Houdini escapes, no one is around to cut him off and arrest him--they just let him go. And then the world's greatest cop played by Tierney takes off after him in a high-speed chase without wearing her seat belt--brilliant--I hope they gave her a ticket, despite the fact that she got instant karma by hitting her head on the steering wheel, allowing Houdini to walk away. And how about those effective interrogation techniques employed by the police force? "You won't talk, oh, OK, I'm sorry to have bothered you."--that's what they must have said. How about punching the crap out of him like in other movies? A woman's life is at stake here, for crying out loud!

And what was with the rough sex crap? That had nothing to do with the main story. They clumsily attempted to somehow tie that into the story when Houdini and Madeline were talking "privately", but it just didn't make much sense. And a dumb ending...OK, Madeline saved the day, but now she's back to moping around feeling sorry for herself for being a sex addict outside her marriage, and that's it. PFFFFFT (the sound of a movie fizzling at the end).

OVERRATED movie, if you ask me.

I of course expected little from this small budget movie with unknown actors (including Brody, at that pre-Pianist time). Given these parameters, this is a very engaging thriller.

Very effectively creepy. The psycopath theme is occasionally so disturbing that it's hard to watch in places. But what frightens even more is the horrifying glimpse we get into the mind of a killer.

Brody offers us a frighteningly friendly and calm, hypnotically conniving psychopath, and Maura Tierney is very credible as a woman so self-destructive and full of self-hatred that in one disquieting scene she can barely look at herself in a mirror.

Definitely worth seeking out.

No pausible plot, bad dialogue, cheap scenario, no depth of police/FBI procedure, pathetic use of psychology and so full of holes (E.g When trying to trace the kidnapper's stolen car while in pursuit, the police reply "no fingerprints, no witnesses". Like where would a thief leave fingerprints at the place the car was stolen!" The best part of this movie save for perhaps the music is wathcing the word OXYGEN appear at the end.

i saw this movie by mistake one day and thought it was just another cop show series...until i focused on actor adrien brody. i thought this guy was some insane talent to be doing a crappy show and not be famous yet because his skill as an actor gets you so involved within the plot it doesn't even matter if you don't see the whole thing from the begining.his characters power over the enire police force and his victims is so so....sneaky and allurring that he becomes almost lovable and in a very sexual way that you don't even want him to get caught. i thought the movie was well scripted and someone did a fantastic job casting the film and would love to see it again

Your typical serial killer flick. If you enjoy serial killers you will enjoy this movie. The movie is average, but the serial killer is a bit like Houdini. He escapes by odd and creepy methods. He will surprise you. This killer also likes to play vebal head games with cops. Particularly Maura Tierney. Her character really interested me. A woman cop married to the chief. She has an alcahol problem as well as some sexual issues and self injury secrets. The movie was good, but I would love to read the novel for more depth of the characters.

If you are a crime/cop buff addict this is the film for you, great acting and decent plot...Recommend this film highly