maandag 26 mei 2014

Not Safe for Work (2014)

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Genre : Thriller
Country : USA

Cast :
JJ Feild : Moordenaar
Eloise Mumford : Anna
Max Minghella : Tom Miller

Director :
Joe Johnston

Summary
An office worker is trapped inside the building where a killer is on the loose.

My opinion
A trifle of an opinion for this trifle of a movie. Without realizing it, I was watching a 70-minute film. It ended before I knew it. I found it remarkable that the introduction was so short and it didn't take long before Tom Miller got stuck on a floor in a pharmaceutical company with a killer. A thriller (with really almost no thrills) without bells and whistles.

Yet some respect for Joe Hohnston who in the past directed films like "Jumanji", "The Rocketeer", "Jurassic Park III" and "Captain America: The First Avenger", and then he finishes a simple low-budget straight-to-DVD movie. And also with a production company which released films like "Paranormal Activity", "Oculus", "Insidious" and "The Purge". A sticker on the DVD cover with these data on it and you have a guaranteed amount of film fans who expect a gem. I am convinced that a large part of them will be disillusioned.

So Tom Miller is a novice clerk who works in the legal department of a large pharmaceutical company. He's trying to prove himself and writes on his own initiative a note about a mafia family. However, this is not appreciated by everybody and he is fired at the end of the day. (We are only 5 minutes far in the movie). When he arrives in the lobby with his personal belongings in a cardboard box, he witnesses a briefcase exchange between someone who leaves the building and a second person who looks like a businessman. Of course, he decides to follow the man and he eventually ends up on the same floor where he had just left and he realizes after a time he's stuck on this electronically sealed floor.

What we get is a kind of "Die Hard" hostage in an office but without a lot of action, gunfights and comical and entertaining dialogues. It's a cat and mouse game where all the characters are mostly running and creeping around back and forth. Only JJ Feild, as the cold-blooded killer, made an impression in terms of acting. Until the last moment, he remains admirably calm and he gives the impression to have situation completely under control. The rest of the company just put on a mediocre acting show.

Is it such a bad movie ? No not really. I found it fascinating to watch. As long as you don't expect some pronounced action, thoughtful dialogues and sophisticated put together storyline, it'll increase your appreciation level. I don't know if it is intentional, but there really are no explicit or gory murder scenes. The short playing time is another plus. That way you won't get the opportunity to get annoyed about certain things.

Conclusion: A straightforward low-budget thriller with very few surprises or twists, but still enjoyable in a certain way.