20131121: Thriller Review--Abducted

Abducted (Layover)

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action video, 2012, NR, 91 minutes, thriller. Spoken word is English and Russian.
2. IMDB:  4.4/10.0 from 344 audience ratings. Aspect 1.78
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No reviews yet,' and 'No scores yet.'  Looks like I will be the first.
4. Netflix: 3.3/5.0 from 195,612 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: R. D. Braunstein.
6. Starring: Lauren Holly as Suzanne Hollingsworth, Kaylee DeFer as Rebecca White, Joe Lando as Elliot, Gerald Webb as Special Agent Andrew Rohm.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Set in Detroit, Michigan, USA, though filmed in Los Angeles.


2. Suzanne and Rebecca are driving to a charter flight for Suzanne.  That falls through.  Rebecca arranges a commercial flight, and gets fired for it.  Sigh.  Foul weather lands Suzanne in Detroit.  Suzanne's reputation keeps her out of the better hotels.


3. Suzanne ends up in a fleabag motel.  She pounds on the wall when the neighbors are noisy, and ends up seeing something she should not have seen, namely Russians who kidnap American women as meat in the (involuntary) sex trade.


4. Although fired, Rebecca stays on the case.  Really?


5. Rebecca gets Elliot on the case, and Elliot goes to Detroit with her to investigate.  They find enough evidence to stay interested.


6. The Russians finally look at Suzanne's ID, then make a ransom call.  Elliot calls the FBI, who jump on the case.


7. Elliot and Rebecca work on the clues Suzanne sent during the proof of life telephone call.  The money drop is made.  The FBI trails the mobster who picked up the money.  Suzanne manages to escape the handcuffs.  One mobster is full time after her.


8. After the FBI's plan to use a transmitter on the money fails, will Elliot and Rebecca get there in time?


3. Conclusions
1. As TV movies go, this was pretty good.
2. One line summary: Heiress in the wrong place is kidnapped by Russian mobsters.
3. Four stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 9/10 There was a little camera wobble, but otherwise fine.


2. Sound: 9/10 Sound quality could have been better on the incidental music.


3. Acting: 7/10 Lauren Holly was fine, as were Joe Lando and Gerald Webb.  Kaylee DeFer was much better than she was in the wretched Darkroom, 2013.  Still, that is treading water compared to being at the bottom of the ocean.


4. Screenplay: 7/10 Rebecca stays on the case after she's fired?  I find that very difficult to believe.  It was too bad that the chip-in-the-dog was not remembered until late in the game.  Also, the FBI was written as being pretty lame.