20140212: Thriller Review--Edison Force

Edison Force

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American/German live action feature length film, 2005, rated R, 99 minutes, crime, drama, thriller.
2. IMDB: 5.3/10.0 from 11,536 audience ratings. Estimated budget, 24.2 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 0% on the meter; 36% liked it from 9,734 audience ratings.
4. I watched this on Crackle.
5. Written and directed by: David J. Burke.
6. Starring: Kevin Spacey as Wallace, Morgan Freeman as Ashford, LL Cool J as Deed, Justin Timberlake as John Pollack, Dylan McDermott as Lazerov, John Heard as Tilman, Piper Perabo as Willow.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Deed, Lazerov, and Tilman work on the Edison Force, an elite crime stopping unit.  Ashford, who used to be well-regarded reporter, runs a publication of only modest reputation.  Ashford faults Pollack early on for not backing up his opinions with facts; not so long later, he fires Pollack.


2. Pollack is interested in showing that the Edison Force has done some shady work, but he does not seem to know how to do that.  Even his girlfriend Willow thinks that about him.


3. To get his career back on track, Pollack starts pursuing a particular case in which he thinks a man has been framed.  The trail leads to exposure of corruption, reactive violence, and other discouraging results.


4. Will Pollack get his story substantiated and published?


3. Conclusions
1. Where was the oversight on this one?  The cast is rather good overall, but the result was rather poor.
2. One line summary: First time actors and a poor script waste the efforts of the veteran actors.
3. Three stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 9/10 Good looking night filming as well as crisp daylight footage.


2. Sound: 8/10 Good for the most part.


3. Acting: 4/10 I have come to like LL Cool J in NCIS: Los Angeles, but his acting in this earlier work just did not cut it.  Justin Timberlake did OK in the fluffy comedy Friends with Benefits, but in Edison Force and other dramatic roles, I did not care for his performance.  Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, John Heard, and Piper Perabo seemed to be trapped inside this awful screenplay.  Given a good screenplay and a skilled director, Dylan McDermott can give fine performances, but he had neither to rely on here.  The worst part is that Timberlake's character is the center of the film.


4. Screenplay: 2/10 Given the budget of over 24 million USD, a better screenplay could have been obtained, but it was not.  This is the second biggest weakness of the film.