arthur_tafero 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.

sol1218 **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!

Paul Andrews 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.

sarcastic_bitch Where to begin, I guess I'll start with saying that Adrien Brody was awesome! This is one on my favorite films! If you haven't seen it yet you need to because it is just wonderful. Anyways Adrien Brody plays a psychotic murder named Harry, who kidnaps a woman and buries her alive. He does this as an attempt to get ransom money from her husband. Harry gets a tape to the husband which explains that if he wants to know where his wife is buried he must not contact the police and pay him the amount of money he asks for, or Harry will never tell where she is. Well of course like in every movie the husband goes to the police. In a wicked awesome chase scene Harry is captured, but keeps to his word of never telling the woman's where abouts. Maura Tierney is the only person Harry says he will talk to. As soon as she sits down the police are taken on a wild goose chase by the brilliant young killer. As the police say,"He's the brains in the operation." or something like that. With wonderful acting on both Maura and Adriens parts Oxygen is a fast paced thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.