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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Lamentable "Sniper" Thriller: See "Phone Booth" Instead, July 13, 2004
Linda Fiorentino, Wesley Snipes and Oliver Platt (in that order) star in this awfully tedious thriller with a questionable political message. Let's not talk about the issues like pro- or anti-gun control for now, because the film (which is directed by the same person who did "Children of the Corn 666" -- quite a damning title) has no thrills or suspence. And at the time of writing this, we have not seen Ms. Fiorentino for two years -- hope it has not killed her career.The story is marginally interesting; I say marginally, for we later are to see much better "Phone Booth." Like Colin Farrell film, the protagonist Liberty Wallace (Linda Fiorentino) finds herself in a big trouble. Someone named 'Joe' (Snipes) aims a rifle at her while she is chained to a hotdog stand where an explosive device is set. And Liverty is a wife of a rich gun manufacturor (Oliver Platt), and Joe claims he lost his daughter because of the gun her company made. The story, which starts promisingly, suddenly loses steam in the first fifteen minutes. And then, it's all about the confusing situations and paper-thin characters whom we just don't care. In terms of thriller, first of all, it is a total failure. See, if the guy Joe is really a good marksman as the film shows, why does he need a bomb in the first place? Unaccountably, the film introduces another 'bomb' rigged to the body of a poor fellow (who is supposedly having an affair with Liberty) which only detracts the tension of the main story. The film rasies interesting questions such as, Is Liberty (or her husband) really responsible for the death of the people killed by guns? The director clearly leans on the left side, which in itself is no problem. But as the character of Joe is so superficial and unconvincing that his logics start to look like that of a monster. He never tells us what happened to the daughter, nor he blames the culprit while he could kill innocent people. There is little sign of intelligence behind his characterization, which is an insult to the victims or survivors of the real murder cases. Of course, the film could be an example of escapism, (like "Phone Booth" again), but the film suffers at that point from the bad acting and awful dialogues with cluttered pace. Wooden performance from the two leads are deplorable, and as to Ms. Fiorentino, we sincerely miss her in "MIB." Need a thriller with snipers? Again I say, see "Phone Booth" instead. And its sniper Kiefer Sutherland is ten times more authentic than Snipes, though -- or perhaps because -- Kiefer scarcely shows his face.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Heavy handed politics ruin an interesting film, February 20, 2006
Warning***Some spoilers below
This movie has good moments, and creates a surprising amount of intensity for a story that revolves around an individual literally standing still. However, the political statements related to gun accessibility are way over the top and so heavy handed that they become trite. After a short while I found myself focusing more on the inaccuracies and inconsistencies of the political arguments instead of the movie itself.
For example, the individual who is upset about the random murder of his daughter by a gunman thinks nothing about killing other people's children. Hmmm... Not a particularly good protagonist.
There is absolutely no counter balance to the story, and the characters become so stereotyped that they lose an real appeal. This is especially true of Liberty, who lacks any redeming quality. Further, nearly everyone in the story winds up dead, except for Liberty, who gets to walk off with her boyfriend after leaving her husband, who unnecessarily placed himself in danger to try to save her, dieing on the street. She didn't even give him a backward glance. I have to admit that by the end of the movie, she was the only character I really wanted to see die. Instead, she is the only one who lives. Go figure... (I think the director wanted us to think of the husband as the villain and Liberty as the hero, but I can't think of a single appealing characteristic of Liberty whereas the husband demonstrated bravery, motivation, and a willingness to sacrifice for others.)
Over all, the movie isn't worth the ride. The cinemaphotography is stylish and the concept is neat. However, the politics are just too dogmatic and poorly argued, and the characters are not compelling. It could have been a good movie, but it just didn't turn out that way.
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been worse... or much, much better., December 26, 2002
Liberty Stands Still (Kari Skogland, 2002)This movie, whose US run was a stint at the Palm Springs Film Festival, is hard evidence that even if you're on the A-list, they still won't release everything you make. Wesley Snipes heads up this thriller, backed by B-listers Linda Fiorentino and Oliver Platt, and still the biggest market it played was Italy; its Japanese release was also limited. Snipes stars as Joe, a disenchanted guy with a sniper rifle and a chip on his shoulder. Through a series of not-so-subtle machinations, he traps the heiress to the company that manufactured the rifle (Fiorentino) and has her handcuff herself to a hot dog cart containing a very large bomb in LA. The film's remaining eighty-six minutes (it's ninety-six minutes long, in total) cut between the growing bond between hostage and sniper and the hostage's various attempts to get help. The above sounds like a setup for a movie that beats one about the head and neck region with a gun control message and has nothing deeper for the average viewer. Such is not the case; Skogland does a decent enough job of keeping the gun-control rhetoric to a minimum and in believable places. The message is still a little overpowering, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. The pace is a bit slow for an action/suspense film, but once you're in the proper position, what is there to do, really, but wait? Perhaps the best way to approach this movie is as a combination of the overly preachy John Q. and the as-yet-unreleased Phone Booth. Snipes takes the same deadpan approach to this character he did with Monroe Hutchens in Undisputed, and minimalism is not the best way for Snipes to go. His best moments are when he's right on the edge of losing control. They are, unfortunately, too few. Oliver Platt, as Fiorentino's husband, does a better job here. Unfortunately, he gets too little screen time, and his character is too two-dimensional for him to do much with. What little he can do is worthwhile, however. Fiorentino is fine, and as believable as can be given the situation. All in all, not a bad way to kill ninety minutes. Could have been better, but could have been much, much worse as well. ** 1/2
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