Newsbreak - Eine Story auf Leben und Tod

This is a really bad movie, composed of one chase scene after another. The characters are so one dimensional that you don't care what happens to them. And apparently they don't either. At one point, a character disappears in the middle of a tussle & chase scene. None of h-is/-er fellow characters even question, let alone investigate the disappearance. And sometime later, they happen to run into one another on the street -- apparently just so this loose end would be taken care of.

Altogether a real disappointment, especially since I've always liked Judge Reinhold, and have also enjoyed Michael Rooker. I just don't know why they wasted their time, as well as my own.

While I was sitting back watching this flick, it suddenly dawned on me how much this movie resembled an early 80s cop feature, from the overdone chase scenes to the cheesy dialog. But today even the "investigative reporter caught in intrigue" hook cannot save this film, considering that films like "I Love Trouble" have already pulled this off with much greater flair.

To top things off, Judge Reinhold delivers one of his worst performances ever, considering how well he has played clichéd roles in the past. Yet another aspect of this movie that would have been better 20 years ago.

The supporting character referred above who disappears is played by Kim Darby, and there is a logical reason for her disappearance. It's established she knows the area better than the others and ditches them when the bad guys show up. The film is fast-paced, and it's hard to keep up at times. It's not a great movie by any means, but Darby provides a lot of humor, as does Noelle Parker.