atlasmb
This film stars John Travolta as the noncustodial father of a teenage son who has a history of lying. Terri Polo plays the ex-wife and Vince Vaughn is the new man who enters her life.The story is average in creating suspense, but mines some real emotions that people often have: the lack of control that a non-custodial parent feels regarding the well-being of a child; the helpless feeling of a child in the household of a menacing adult; the confusion of a parent who is torn between irreconcilable interests.Its mediocre manipulation of these emotions and the fears that come from them is the primary reason for the film's substandard quality. The actors are fine, but the vehicle undermines their performances, perhaps because, in trying to convey the various perspectives of the characters, it fails to commit to any one of them. This is mostly a failure of style and technique. The result is a film that engages the viewer, but fails to deliver the expected suspense. It shines briefly in moments, then is undermined by quick cuts or hurried scenes.
FlashCallahan
Susan Morrison gets married to wealthy industrialist Rick Barnes. Danny, her teenage son with ex-husband Frank, isn't happy about this; he stows away in Rick's car one night, planning to go to Frank's house.But while there, he witnesses Rick murdering mysterious stranger Ray Coleman.Problem is, Rick's managed to dispose of most of the evidence, and he's considered a pillar of the community, while Danny has a history of lying.Frank believes him, though, and does some investigating of his own, as Rick's shady past slowly catches up to him and his new family....A movie of the week, gets that little bit better thanks to Travoltas performance and Vaughn on full psycho mode. The annoying things about these films are that you know who the bad guy is, but the red herrings and the narrative of these films just make you want to shout at the screen.As soon as we meet Vaughn, you know the guy is trouble, he offers travolta work and is just too nice, never a good sign. Cracks begin to show when we are introduced to Buscemi, arguably the best thing here. And then Vaughn has a heated game of catch with his new stepson....Bad news.It's all as predictable as the slew of films that were released in the early nineties, pacific heights, unlawful entry, single white female, and nothing new has been added to the mix here to make it different.It's an easy watch, with good performances from the cast, and thats it really.
covergirl10452
Throughout the movie Domestic Disturbance, there was a lot of suspicion, especially after Danny's mother got remarried. When her new husband killed someone and after the police didn't believe Danny, I felt bad for him. The scene when Danny and his stepfather were alone in his bedroom at night was creepy, especially when his stepfather pushed him up against the wall. That was scary. Throughout the movie, it got scary. The stepfather gave me and Danny the creeps. When Danny was alone with him in the bedroom again before court and in the bathroom, I could tell the boy looked scared regardless. Those scenes were worse than a scene in Child's Play 2 when Andy woke up and realized Chucky tied him to the bed. I said to myself "Please tell me he's dreaming that." He was alone and that was creepy. Anyways, Matt O Leary played an unexpected role. Ican't believe he was a juvenile delinquent and that he cries wolf unnecessarily. When he did tell the truth, the cops didn't believe him. The parents didn't believe him until the father had second thoughts. I like the scene when Danny and his mother were trying to get out of the house. She finally realized her son was telling the truth. For the record, when they got in the car, she should have locked the door, made sure our seat belts were on, opened the garage door, and drive far away as possible. I'm glad his stepfather got electrocuted to death. It serves him right. Now he can burn in hell. I felt bad for the mother towards the end when she had to be hospitalized. I think she had a miscarriage. Plus, it was nice for the police to apologize to Danny. It was like being treated like royalty by the authorities. Overall, Matt was terrific. I also liked the scene when he snuck out since it showed his backside. I have a tendency to look at a guy's behind, especially attractive guys. I may sound crazy but don't blame me, blame hormones. Besides, Matt's a cute actor and he's got a cute backside for an actor.
pistolaro_amigo
Standard thriller by the numbers is actually held together by the presence of Steve Bsucemi as he hovers over the film and should've been cast as Vince Vaughn's part instead of being the buddy. Imagine how this would've turned out... sure Travolta is the star of this pic and Vaughn was still a rising star (living off of the title since '97's Swingers) but would Travolta be sleep walking this role if he had a villain with more malice? Teri Polo is arm candy and Travolta is decent as an understanding father; Vaughn here is the weak link. Not that Vaughn is horrific (he is TERRIFIC as Lester Long in Clay Pigeons) but his tic is about as menacing as Vaughn doing Norman Bates (wait a sec... joke on me because he wasn't as effective in that role either). If a different approach was taken and Vaughn came across as turned on his Cary Grant suave charm then think of the astronomical proportions this movie could've reached, but all we have is this version. If you buy this movie make sure that anything over $5 for it you are being ripped off
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