20131127: Thriller Review--Redline

Redline

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2013, NR, 86 minutes, thriller.
2. IMDB: 4.7/10.0 from 447 audience ratings.  Spoken word is in English.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No reviews yet,' 17% liked it from 27 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.3/5.0 from 84,337 audience ratings.
5. Written and directed by: Robert Kirbyson.
6. Starring: John Billingsley as Sam, Nicole Gale Anderson as Tori, Kunal Sharma as Al, Kevin Sizemore as Jared, Joseph Williamson as Mason,


2. Setup and Plot
1. Passengers on a train in Los Angeles get derailed by a bomb.  While tending to the wounded, they find a second bomb.  They try to figure out how to stop it.  They also guess that the bomber is still among them.


2. The bomber does fairly well at covering his tracks.


3. They accuse a young man who looks middle eastern, but who grew up in the USA.  He's not the bomber, of course.


4. With some courageous action, they keep themselves from getting blown up.


5. Do they make it through to rescue?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Survivors of a terrorist attack on a train cooperate to outwit the bomber.
2. Four stars of five


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 8/10 OK, though rather dark.


2. Sound: 8/10 No particular problems, but some better incidental music might have helped the dramatic tension.


3. Acting: 7/10 John Billingsley was great as the villain.  Many of the other actors gave just middling performances.


4. Screenplay: 8/10 Has a beginning, middle, and an end, plus reasonable dialog.