Robert J. Maxwell Nobody can say that it starts off pregnant with promise. There's an irritating itchy noise behind the credits. None of the opening shots lasts more than a second or two; most are out of focus or deliberately pixillated. The credits are full of swift pans with cutting noises on the sound track, over electronic drums that pound your hearing into insensibility. But whoever is guilty of committing the credits seems to have done his job and quietly crept away, thank God.Once that opening ordeal is over, the director, Andy Cheng, settles down and presents a nice, fast, familiar story. The president is assassinated in Washington. Secret Service Agent Cuba Gooding blames himself. He reach out to protect the Chief, the bullet passed through his hand, its course was deflected, and the president died. Reassurance from his boss, James Woods, isn't much help. So far the character resembles Clint Eastwood's Secret Service agent in "In The Line of Fire." This kind of story, the unraveling of a conspiracy, usually requires a spirited reporter, usually a woman. That's Angie Harmon. She goes out on a limb, as all such reporters must. She's a beautiful woman with flashing, coal-black irises and flaring malars that belong in the Museum of Natural History. She and her husky voice were somewhat buried in the ensemble behind "Law&Order," but here she's front and center. I always rather liked Jill Hennessy as the Fifteenth Assistant District Attorney's Executive Secretary, or whatever she was, because she not only looked like a fragile Cosmo model but had a voice that seemed to originate in her throat and emerge draped in contralto colors from her nose. However, Angie does fine in close ups here. There's another attractive woman too. Ann Archer is the deceased president's widow. She's no longer a starlet but still strikingly beautiful. It's rarely talked about but it's surprising how much of what passes for "luck" in our lives depends on our looks.It isn't long before things begin to happen. Harmon locates a bum named "Shaky" who has seen the now-riddled assassin around before the murder. We see that someone is taping them on video from a nearby site. It's Peter Greene, a splendid actor, too often assigned to villainous roles like this one. The moment I saw him staring so fixedly at Harmon and Shaky on television, I never gave Shaky much of a future and the prognosis for Harmon was dicey.The script isn't bad and director Cheng makes the most of it. Harmon, the ambitious reporter, is driving quickly away from the assassination scene and dictating what she's witnessed over the phone. A handsome, relatively young, popular president has just been murdered before her eyes and she's reporting the story. She never breaks into sobs, but her voice is shaky and her face is wet. That's a nice touch, her muted grief. It tells us all we need to know. A little more or a little less would have screwed the pooch.Similarly, there are occasional inserts that look like art, but are effective. A cement cherub in a cemetery seems to be weeping copiously, rain water dripping from his toes. There are unexpected touches of humor. Harmon finds Gooding flat on his back, still drunk after a desolate night of boozing. She's cheery and intrusive and pleads with him to help her, and as he struggles to his feet, still in his underwear, he farts. "Oh, okay," says Harmon, looking away, still chipper.Withall, it's still an action/suspense movie that fills the usual template. At one point, Cuba Gooding emerges from under water, pistol in hand, and gets off two or three rounds without clearing the barrel. There are too many close ups. Close ups were once used to enhance the dramatic effect of a scene, but now they're so common they make each film look like a TV program. And there are moments when the camera moves away from a face and glances at an irrelevant object or body part, as in a commercial for some stock brokerage or insurance company. "You're in good hands". Some of the action is in slow motion, for which Akira Kurasawa is to blame. There's a high-speed car chase on mountain roads and a foot/van race in the city.The ending falls flat on its face. It's like an Agatha Christie story with Hercule Poirot, only there is no Hercule Poirot. Either the explanation doesn't coalesce or my brain is turning into some kind of exotic Oriental vegetable. Too bad, because otherwise it's a reasonably involving story with actors who bring the characters to life and a director who goes for cheap commercial devices only once in a while -- instead of all the time.

Julianne McFey This movie had a crazy good trailer, crazy good cast, and I was very excited to see it. The plot was action packed and mysterious. Just the right ingredients for a great thriller.Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Angie Harmon worked very well together. Great chemistry and clever quips between the two of them. The supporting cast was great and added a whole new layer to the plot. Being on the run from potential bad guys (everyone's a suspect), there are some tense moments.And the bad guys? The bad guys were very scary and very effective. I tell ya, this movie had it all. I was keyed on the entire time. From beginning to end. And just when you think you know who did it --- exactly. The ending will leave you wanting more, believe me.

chrichtonsworld Don't get fooled with all the big names like Burt Reynolds,James Woods and Anne Archer. They are just glorified extra's. Their scenes were probably filmed in one day or so. Whatever their motives for being in this movie, if you have an actor like James Woods you better make good use of him. To me this is a sign of bad direction through and through. The plot itself wasn't that bad. And the acting from most of the actors was above average. Cuba Gooding Jr. however was terrible. He was so unbelievable that I almost laughed at his dramatic scenes. And since this was meant as a serious movie that can't be a good thing. The action scenes were not bad,but they lacked that special punch to make it more exciting. Again better direction was needed. Also the pacing was wrong for a movie like this. It took the main character almost half an hour to get in action. For an action thriller of only 90 minutes that is far too slow. The only redeeming factor is Angie Harmon. She does her best to make it all work. Too bad the director left her hanging. Yes,this movie could have been much better with a great director. Andy Cheng is far too inexperienced as a director to pull it off. And for an action/stunt coordinator of his caliber you'd expect at least more exciting action scenes. Don't waste your time with this one. Avoid!

regan-46 I caught this on TV the other week. It does have a strange, flat atmosphere, which I'd put down to the low budget, and yet there were a couple of things which lifted it out of the ordinary. One was the painting/perspective scene which set up the other: the double twist at the end. If you haven't seen it, then don't read on."Spoiler". I'm old enough to remember the assassination of John Kennedy and although I'm not a conspiracy buff (I do think Oswald acted alone) I think I've seen all the films and documentaries about the grassy knoll and the rest. The only theory I can't remember coming across is the idea put forward at the end of this movie. That the First Lady offed her husband because he was having an affair, and that she knew she'd get away with it because to reveal the truth would mean tarnishing the reputation of the dead president. Perhaps that doesn't have much credibility in this day and age, but, viewed in the Kennedy context, the ending does lift the film somewhat out of the commonplace.