Krishna
This is a thrilling movie to watch but very difficult to explain. The story happens in the course of a single day. Also it is a totally improbable movie. Why? Read on.
And even though the movie is populated with many characters, it is all about Halle Berry, and she does full justice to the role. It is she who carries the story along, and her expressions, panic and the doggedness in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds are all convincing. Yes, I know that some reviews have panned it as garbage, but I beg to differ.
She plays Karla Dyson, who is a woman who is undergoing a divorce from her husband. Karla dotes on her son Frankie. One day, she takes Frankie to a theme park and while she gets the shocking news from her attorney, via her phone, that he is claiming sole custody, she turns around to see Frankie missing and just catches glimpse of his being stuffed into a car by an older woman (who we later learn is named Margo).
She runs to her car to give chase but unfortunately does not notice that her cell phone has fallen off in the panic. (Otherwise the movie would have had simpler solutions). What follows is a totally dogged pursuit, with the kidnappers threatening to throw Frankie out of the speeding car if she does not stop the pursuit, forcing her off to another branch and how she repeatedly gets back on track to pursue them.
There is a lot that happens that is totally action oriented and so we cannot describe in detail but I can tell you that this keeps you on the edge of the seat.
The movie is filled with improbability. The odds of her son getting abducted (kidnapped, if you want to use the title) at the precise moment when she is getting the bad news from her divorce lawyer, her repeatedly finding the car, her finding even the replacement car when they switch cars, her escaping from the clutches of the kidnappers even after one of them gets into her car with the purposes of extracting money from her (She is a poor waitress), the whole series after she finally locates their home – a total smorgasbord of lucky coincidences piled one on top of another.
If you are willing to suspend disbelief – after all, you do that for most movies today : Avengers, James Bond, all of the Mission Impossible movies, so why not for this? – then you get pure entertainment.
Good female oriented movie – a woman who refuses to give up her son no matter what.
The ending has a small twist, which is nice too.
7/10
– – Krishna