Oxygen

This movie does not deserve a long review so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. First I'd Like to point out that the performances by Tierney and Brody are not why this movie does not work for me. Two fine actors to say the least. The biggest problem, among others, is that in order to make many of the scenes work they had to make the cops really REALLY stupid. Morons in fact! About midway through the movie (and I did watch it to the end unfortunately) an old sitcom called Hogans Heroes came to mind. You remember, they had to make the Germans incredibly dumb in order to give we Americans a few laughs. Well, I guess the directors and/or writers forgot that this DOES NOT WORK IN A SERIOUS MOVIE! Do not watch this movie. It is a complete waste of time. Watch only if you have nothing else to do OR possibly while your doing something else LOL. I would have given this flick a BIG FAT ZERO if they'd let me. So I had to give it 1 star. (sigh)

Adrien Brody and Maura Tierney in a "buried alive!" thriller, this oughta be fantastic! So I thought. This is an MOR straight-to-cableish film. Tierney does a good job of playing the "badass cop on the outside, masochist on the inside." Brody is way too obnoxious as the male lead. The film starts out entertaining and action-packed, but then there is strange character development between the two leads that doesn't make much sense. It tries really hard to say something deep, but isn't clear as to what that is. There are some interesting plot twists that will keep you watching, but overall this one is only for fans of Tierney and "buried alive!" movies in general. My Rating: 5/10.

There are few things to say about this incredibly stupid movie, but the most important thing is: stay AWAY from it. It's so bad I was about to leave the theater after 15 minutes of it, but I stayed, hoping it would get better (by the way, how come I saw it in a movie theater if it was made for TV?). The acting is bad, dialog is stupid, the premise is dumb, and you actually begin to think that you would be grateful if the woman died. You never really care about the characters, actually. It might be the worst movie I have seen in 2 or 3 years. It is that bad.

Routine crime story enhanced by the outstanding performance Adrien Brody gives us of a clever, cynical and sadistic killer who buried a woman alive just to fun. The plot has some flaws and the ending has no climax at all. Despite these negative points, the film has its moments, for example the audacious escape of Brody from the police headquarters and the poignant dialogue he keeps with the female cop (Tierney) in charge of the case. I give this a five.

Oxygen is one of those truly rare surprises. A thriller that offers great performances from a "lesser known" cast, chases, twists and turns, and an overall satisfying story. Director Richard Shepard had offers of a larger budget but it would have meant having it done the way the higher-ups in suits would have wanted it done. By managing to get several producers on the project, he was allowed to do the film the way he wanted and actually pulled off a fun thriller on a little over a million dollars for the budget. A wealthy sociallite is kidnapped, buried alive, and a ransom is demanded to reveal her location--but she has less than 24 hours, that is, if the air in her makeshift coffin lasts that long. There's a lot of talking going on in the process of saving her, but hey, figure how it would happen in real life, and for those looking for some thinking material as well as thrills, this plot works just fine. Besides, to me the most terrifying thing I can imagine is suffocating or drowning, and the idea of being buried alive like in this film is genuinely creepy. Maura Tierney plays the cop role with much seriousness, Adrien Brody is so off kilter you forget he's actually a decent guy in real life (as revealed on the DVD's audio commentary), but big points go to Laila Robins as the woman buried alive--her character is so convincing she makes you feel uneasy to the point of squirming in your seat. There's a stunning car chase as well to satisfy action enthusiasts, but it's within context and not just another cheap thrill to fill up time. And just when you think things are about to finish, a really big wrench is thrown in to twist the story even more and have you thinking, "Wait just a darn minute...." I found viewing the DVD a much more satisfying experience, as you get the widescreen version and better quality picture. The audio commentary is quite informative and even informal, as the director points out a tiny judgment mishap in which a scene was shot early with the actors wearing jackets, but the rest of the film surrounding that scene everyone is made to look like they're sweating from the hot weather. Considering I was originally enthralled with the story, I really didn't notice that until listening to the commentary. The DVD also has an interesting storyboard sequence for the car chase scene, with commentary. For a lesser known film with a small budget, there was quite a bit of care put in this release. Give yourself a treat and check this film out. Consider this: Sometimes it's more fun to try a film that's not a big market blockbuster instead of having to only go with a "top 10" title. Just because a film has big stars and is pushed as a "hot new release" in a video store doesn't mean anything (goodness, haven't you learned that by now, folks?). Oxygen is one of those great little surprises that will have you saying, "Gee, why didn't I give this one a try earlier?"

**SPOILERS** Really bizarre crime thriller about this mentally unbalanced kook who believes himself to be the reincarnation of legendary escape artist Harry Houdini. This concentration camp survivor looking like individual goes by the name, no big surprise here, of Harry played by a emaciated looking skin and bones, a body that's perfect in escaping from straight-jackets and handcuffs, Adrien Brody. Together with his partner in crime Greg "Handsome" Evens, Michael Henderson, Harry kidnaps both Frances Hannon, Laila Robins, and her pet Pooh,played by Duke the Dog, as she was out walking him outside her luxury apartment house one afternoon in Midtown Manhattan. Held for one million dollars in ransom money Harry demands from Frances' millionaire art collector husband Clark, James Naughton, that if he doesn't get the cash by 6:00 Am the next morning she'll be dead; Dying from suffocation by being buried alive in some unknown location outside the city limits. The movie starts to get really strange when NYPD lady Det. Madeline "Maddy" Foster, Maura Tierney, is put on the case. With the police and Det. Foster casing out the money drop at the Queens Cemetery, where Harry Houdini just happens to be buried, Harry-the Psycho-leaves himself wide open to be captured by walking right into the trap that the police set for him. After a French Connection style car case thorough the city Harry is finally captured and put into police custody. It's then when we finally realize what exactly Harry's motives in kidnapping Frances, and her pet pooch, really were! They turned out to be just as crazy and unpredictable as he is! We also get to see Det. Foster's dark and secret life as a S&M freak that she's been keeping from her boss in the NYPD as well as husband Capt. Tim Foster, Terry Kinney. This strange and destructive lifestyle is quickly picked up by, who's very obviously into S&M himself, Det. Foster's captive Harry! With that knowledge in mind Harry does everything he can to get under Det. Foster's skin making her job, in finding the buried alive France's Hannon and her Pooch, much harder then it already is. ***SPOILER ALERT*** We soon get to find out just that the not all there upstairs Harry really wanted to get himself caught in order to prove that he, like his hero Harry Houdini, can escape from any situation he finds himself in. Like being locked up in a jail cell in a New York City police station! Harry also uses his knowledge of Let. Foster's hang ups, as being into S&M, to cause her to lose her cool by hinting to her hubby Capt. Tim what a crazy freak he's married too. In the end Harry like most nut-cases like himself overplayed his hand in thinking that he's, not the NYPD, in control of what's going on in the movie. That leads to Harry ending up just where he put Frances, in a pine box, with him not worried about suffocating to death because of lack of oxygen because by then he wouldn't really need it anyway! P.S Earlier in the film there's a big chase scenes under the Brooklyn West-End elevated subway line that starts at the 62nd Steet station. It's that very same subway station where the exciting car chase in the film "The French Connection" ended with NYPD Det. Popeye Doyle gunning down his attempted assassin Frog #2 after chasing him down, after he derailed the hijacked subway train that he commandeered, and trapping him there!

More articulate people than myself have said it all; but I'll have a go anyway :) Oxygen is a tightly paced and utterly watchable thriller about a female detective (Maura Tierney) on the trail of a psychopathic kidnapper (Adrian Brody) and his buried-alive victim, while fighting demons of her own. The 2 leads are both astonishing. Maura Tierney is SO beautiful and SO talented it's almost indecent :) She has such a thoughtful / intelligent face and completely captivated me with her role in Liar Liar. She's just as good in this movie too. Bruce Almighty might have been half decent if MS Tierney had played the role Jennifer Aniston so completely messed up!! Adrien Brody is another fantastically talented actor yet to get the 'star' status he deserves. He was brilliant in The Pianist and he's brilliant here too. His character was very very scarey. So. Well worth watching.

In a hopeless quest to get rid of his sensitive, good-guy image, Adrien Brody makes a terrible mistake in his career with this turkey. I am a big fan of Adrien Brody, but this is like Cary Grant trying to put over a role as a serial killer. It is just not a believable premise, considering the actor. After viewing this film, you may need oxygen (and a shower). The plot is not that original either; it was done much better on TV shows like Top Cops, and CSI The complete script is totally unrealistic, and has very little to do with either the criminal intent to make money or psychological need to show how smart and clever one could be. As a fantasy piece (and it is a complete fantasy piece), it fails miserably from satisfying more than 99% of the viewers out there. Can Adrien Brody play against type? The answer is no.

Good performances, especially from Adrien Brody as a psychotic sadistic killer with a Houdini obsession and Maura Tierney as a cop, make this film stand out. The story is good, but would have suffered in the hands of a less competent director and cast. This is a movie that depends a lot on performance to deliver, and it does. Some of the supporting cast could have been played by better actors, but they are serviceable and are mostly meant to occasionally prod the story along another notch. On the whole, the cast stays out of the way of Brody and Tierney, who are the whole show. It's definitely worth seeing, and another one of those films that seemingly came out of nowhere, as I never heard of it before. I like solid B movies, and this stands out as one of the best. Its obscurity helps to conceal its surprises, and it helps to be surprised with this movie. I gave it an 8 out of 10.

Oxygen starts one sunny afternoon in New York City as Frances Hannon (Laila Robins) is walking her pet dog around the block, a man (Adrien Brody) approaches her a begins to chat to her, at first he seems a pleasant & charming young man but he soon changes as he becomes aggressive, he threatens her & makes her get into a nearby car. He, & his accomplice (Michael Henderson), drive off to a wood where they bury Frances alive in a wooden coffin, she has about 24 hours worth of air left & the clock is ticking... Detective Madeline Foster (Maura Tierney) & her partner Jesse (Paul Calderon) are called onto the task force to find Frances & apprehend her kidnappers. They are both briefed, Frances rich husband Clarke (James Naughton) has received a videotape that demands he pay a $1,000,000 ransom or Frances will be left to suffocate & die an agonising & terrifying death. The money drop off goes OK until the kidnapper figures out the police are watching him, Foster has no choice but to arrest him without the knowledge of where Frances is & once in custody he refuses to say anything, will Frances be found in time before she runs out of air & why does her young kidnapper seem so clam, almost as if he is enjoying himself or maybe there are other less clear motives behind the events of the previous day... Written, co-produced & directed by Richard Shepard I thought Oxygen was a nice tight, taut little thriller that isn't the sort of thing I usually like but it has a certain something about it. The script at it's most basic is pretty gripping & absorbing as time runs out for Frances while Harry the kidnapper toys with the police & FBI, although I have to say once Harry is arrested & stuck in that room the pace slackens considerably. I would say that what Oxygen deals with is what many would consider their worst nightmare, being buried alive & slowly running out of air & perhaps more could have been done with this concept as it concentrates a little too much on the games played by Harry with the authorities. One more thing, Harry's precise & exact plans rely far too much on luck & things he simply has no control over to make me convinced that he could have come up with such an elaborate & implausible scheme. I mean his whole plan is based on the fact that he would be placed in one room, in that they would handcuff him in a certain way & that he would definitely be able to pick the locks, that they would agree with his demands to the absolute letter & that there is a air conditioning vent in the room just big enough to crawl through & that he could actually reach it as well as being able to keep total control over a hostage so they don't raise the alarm. That's an awful lot of coincidences & a whole lot of luck as well. The character's are well developed & fleshed out, they have a little bit more depth than usual I loved the monologue about the lethal injection from the FBI agent who was meant to be intimidating. Director Shepard does an OK job without being particularly outstanding, as a whole Oxygen is a little bland & forgettable but the solid story should paper over the lacklustre visuals. The film lacks any real tension or excitement but it does retain ones interest throughout, again thanks to the story. There isn't any violence to speak of except a gory gunshot wound at the end. Technically Oxygen is OK, it's competently made, there are a few nice New York shots & a couple of minor car chases although there isn't much action as it's a dialogue & storyline driven film. The acting is good especially from the two leads, Tierney as the cop & the effective Brody as the cold, calculating villain. Oxygen is a good thriller, it's short on action or violence but it has a good strong story to compensate. Personally I think it's well worth a watch.