Laura
Okay, I watch Lifetime, I admit it. About four out of every ten movies are pretty decent and once in awhile there is a really good one. It passes the time when I need something relaxing. This movie actually made me gag, it is that bad, from beginning to end. The characters started out being pretty interesting but every scene got worse, I don't know how the actors got through it, they must have been thinking after each absurd scene that their careers would be ruined forever just from being associated with this movie! Not one plot line or scene felt real or at all believable, and it wasn't because of bad acting. Who in the world wrote the script and how could it have been approved? The last 15 minutes of the film really made me angry, I sat there with my mouth open saying "really?". Sorry for the rant, but I just had to warn people not to waste two hours on this.
HallmarkMovieBuff
These comments could contain spoilers (see last paragraph), but the movie's script is so formulaic that there is really nothing in the plot to spoil.I first encountered this film's lead, Elisabeth Röhm, in the TV series, "Bull," and was so taken with her beauty that I missed if there were any defects in her acting (after all, to me, she was a "newcomer"). By the time she starred in "Law and Order," however, they started becoming evident; and I have to say that they haven't improved here...nothing really bad, just too much false emotion, i.e., there are times you can catch her "acting." The best performances here (IMO, and within the confines of the script), are by Chandra West as the mother of the ailing friend of FBI mom's daughter (played well by Taylor Anne Reid), and by Malcolm Stewart as the FBI boss (especially in the scene where he explains to Reid's character why she shouldn't be blaming her mom for her father's leaving).If there's a spoiler here, it's this: the movie's title promises a hostage negotiation thriller (which in a way it is), but the point of the drama is to highlight the potential fate of severely ill patients excluded from clinical trials, with the FBI mother and neglected daughter merely a predictable structure to fill out the time, and ultimately deliver the message. Otherwise, there is much better drama on series television, and every single point of this drama is tied up neatly in the end, leading to a pat conclusion.
vchimpanzee
At the start of the movie, a hostage situation ends badly. Well, maybe not that badly, but I won't say why.But FBI negotiator Laura Martin, who has been divorced for several years, has a bigger problem. Her daughter Taylor thinks Laura cares more about her job than her daughter. After all, Laura is late picking up Taylor from school.Taylor's bitterness is normal enough for a teenager (there is the obligatory locking herself in her room and turning up this so-called music so loud it makes the world go away). And one of her problems is that her mother is dating Frank, another FBI agent. She hates him. But Taylor's problems are minor compared to those of her best friend Annie.Annie may die soon unless she can get an experimental treatment from Barraby Hospital, which happens to be located in the same city where Annie lives. Annie's father has died, but at least he had a good insurance policy, so her mother Elizabeth can concentrate on caring for her daughter. Unfortunately, this hospital cannot afford to give the treatment Annie needs to everyone who wants it (at this stage, insurance won't help), and a lottery determines the "winners".Another hostage incident ends badly, this one at a prison that houses mentally ill patients. Laura doesn't follow procedure and she may lose her job (which would be fine with Agent Di Carlo, who she replaced). But she will have one chance to redeem herself.This movie was almost a total waste of time. It seemed like five minutes couldn't pass without Laura on the verge of crying or Taylor being a brat. There are some tender moments that last about three seconds. But then comes the one hostage incident that almost--ALMOST--makes the movie work. Still, there are unnecessary and ridiculous complications, and people who seem to have little regard for their fellow human beings--if you are a criminal, it seems you deserve to die just because you can be killed.Elisabeth Rohm had her occasional good moments, most of them related to her ability as a negotiator. Even if she doesn't always go by the book, she has the best of intentions. But there's nothing outstanding here.
DaveHorowitz
Terrible acting coupled with terrible cheesy lines. It is so bad, it is not even fit for TV. Everything is predictable. The target audience is the hate filled feminists. Misandry is rampant at every turn. The show is filled with sick feminist propaganda. The feminist politics is so intoxicating, it makes the show seem more like a feminist hate session than a session of negotiation. She has to constantly tell the men they have to lower standards so she will make the grade. Of course when she fails we are to overlook it because she needs a handicap. Use your intuition and avoid this like the plague. Don't waste your time on this trash.
AD
