Customer Reviews

Surveillance

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is in most every way a standard b-movie: weak script, basic production values, cliched lines and shots left and right, but Assante takes his character and overplays it so hard that he actually lifts this film singlehandedly into the watchable and even enjoyable categories.

The whole horror subplot was thrown in afterhand, as the producers admit in the doc on the dvd. It feels that way, and is basically pointless. This is really nothing more than a character study of a true American weasel, the moronic policeman/security guard/power freak who has no real brains of his own, or ideas, or heart. So he lives to screw happy, decent people over.

Assante brings it all home most convincingly; his overacting fits perfectly. He really cracked me up at moments. This is a three-star film at best, but his almost five-star performance makes it worthwhile.

I really enjoyed the flick. Good acting (even a bit over the top) by Armand Assante! Great afternoon or evening's entertainment.

Harley is a reclusive mall security guard whose life's obsession is to apprehend potential shoplifters through a state-of-the-art electronic surveillance network. Trouble is, the would-be shoplifters mysteriously disappear. Dennis, Harley's young apprentice, starts to dig into the shady past of his introvert boss. What he discovers is not very pleasant.

The concept behind "Surveillance" escapes the stereotypical clichés of the genre. The movie is solidly built around a robust script with emphasis on plot and character development rather than special effects. Armand Assante delivers a convincing performance as the enigmatic Harley. Direction is by legendary director Fritz Kiersch, whose credits include the cult horror classic "Children of the Corn." The producers include none other than Academy Award winner Gray Frederickson, whose resume boasts "Apocalypse Now" and the "Godfather" series. The production was filmed for very little money in Oklahoma City. Especially notable is the production design by Rebekah Bell and the art department who managed to pull off a credible job on a shoestring budget.

Surveillance (Fritz Kiersch, 2006)

I was mildly intrigued by Fritz Kiersch's less-seen 2006 film, the aggressively-indie The Hunt, which I reviewed back in November 2009. So I went looking for his higher-profile movie from that year, Surveillance. What a mistake that was. And yet, as I was watching it, I kept seeing glimmers of a really good thriller lurking beneath the many, many problems. So I kept watching to see if it was going to get any better. Silly me.

Surveillance concerns an insane mall security guard named Harley (Armand Assante). He's very good at his job, but this is because he's something of a vigilante, as we see in the opening scene. In order to try and tame him, the powers that be at the mall assign him an assistant, Dennis (Psycho Beach Party's Nick Cornish), who's just gotten out of the joint. (Because you hire ex-cons to be your security guards.) You see, Harley has just gotten one of the more popular employees of a department store in the mall, Ben (Robert Rusler, who was also in The Hunt), fired for suspected theft, and the whole thing smells a little hinky. So Dennis starts hanging around with Ben's former associate Claire (The In Crowd's Laurie Fortier) to try and figure out what's going on. Cue silly romantic subplot. Eventually, everyone's trying to play everyone else, and things come to a head when Ben, drunk and homicidal, shows up to take Harley out.

Played less seriously, this movie could have been a lot of fun. But it wasn't. Played more seriously, this could have riffed on the whole modern-noir thing (think The Last Seduction here) and been a serviceable, though minor, Lifetime Original Movie. Again, it wasn't. This was an attempt to make a big blockbuster thriller, and David Golden's paceless, inane script was in no way up to the task. (This one one of only two Golden-scripted films to ever see a theatrical release; the rest of his output is made-for-TV fare, including the similarly silly Haylie Duff vehicle Nightmare, which I reviewed a few months back.) Which is too bad, because Assante was obviously into his role enough to allow himself to go to pot for it; he comes off as exactly the kind of football-player-gone-to-seed we expect in the role. And unlike everyone else involved in this production, he knew better than to take it seriously; he's as much a comic figure as he is a menacing one. If only anyone else involved in this mess had gotten the joke. ½

as a collector of movies, having over 80 of his movies and tv shows-all his movies are wonderful-you can't go wrong with this movie, a great action pack movie-besides ladies-he's so sexy!!!!!!!!!!!

Not what I expected from Assante.He usually plays the hero but not this time. He plays a pyhcotic killer. Definetely not whqt I expected.