Liberty Stands Still

Linda Fiorentino (Liberty Wallace) an international arms dealer who sells to anyone...no questions asked. While out to meet her lover, she receives a phone-call; the sniper (Welsey Snipes) who she is talking to has her in his sights, and if she fails to do as she told, she will die; and if her phone goes dead she will detonate a bomb that will destroy a city block.

The idea is good, and a strong sense of tension is built up by the performances of Fiorentino and Snipes, but after a clever and intriguing build up the film does eventually fall flat. By the end you may feel that the film makers missed a good opportunity to both make a statement and make a cracking film.

6/10 If you like the concept - try phonebooth, it is better executed.

Why is it that all the trouble these days start when you answer you phone/cell phone?

From the moment Snipes dials in Fiorentino's cell phone, all the suspense begins. She starts by being the one who's in control, but it's obvious she's not. Shackling herself to a hot dog stand was bad enough with a sniper trained on you, but there's also a little surprise for all those involved in her life.

Snipes plays the sniper well. As one who can turn the tables on anyone, he pulls it off superbly. Fiorentino was all right, but I found myself more attached to Snipes, trying to find out why he was doing what he was doing. But the bottom line was if she didn't play his game, she wasn't going to live.

This is the first I've even heard of this movie. I like Snipes and I watched "Phone Booth" just a couple of months ago. I know it's not right to compare the two, but I can't help but draw on the similarities between the two. Kiefer Sutherland was a psycho, too, but he tended to lose his cool once in a while, where Snipes did not. Not only was he in control of the situation, but he was in control of himself, as well. It kind of makes you believe that he could actually pull off what he meant to do.

I don't know, but, for some reason, I didn't find this film very "suspenseful" at all. When I watch these kinds of movies, I find myself sitting on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, but not this time. I found the movie almost like a soap opera, where I could have stepped out of the room for a couple of minutes, came back, and caught right up with where I was at, knowing everything I missed.

Not in "Liberty Stands Still"; a taught drama in which Liberty (Fiorentino) is a powerful, well connected corporate type who is held hostage in public by a sniper (Snipes) secreted in a building and armed with a sniper rifle, a remote controlled bomb, a cell phone, and oodles of hi-tech gadgetry. The film is a stylish and highly improbable chess match drama in which Snipes spends much time talking with Fiorentino via cell phone as he asserts his agenda and Los Angeles gets busy trying to deal with the threat. Character development is spread over the run time and the conclusion is somewhat less than satisfying. However, the kinetics, visuals, drama, and spy stuff are sufficient to make "Liberty...." a worthwhile and interesting escapist guy-flick. (B-)

Note - Though filmed in Vancouver according to this website, the film shows frequent aerial shots of L.A.

A low-key and seemingly missed thriller. Wesley Snipes provides a slow and unusually underplayed performance, with no physical fighting or glib one liners. In fact it's an extremely mature performance that shows what an overlooked actor he really is. An interesting and original storyline keeps you engaged and the continually moving camera, quick editing and fast paced story, heightens the tension as the pressures build. One of the surprising things about this film is the extremely small scale on which the movie is based, the focus switches between one room and a hotdog stand, with cuts to locations to bring in incidental characters. A thriller based around a clever idea, filled with tension, but just lacking an edge.

There's an interesting audience response to this movie. The director has captured the audience in the movie theater and forced it to take

a look at the handgun issue...not by getting the audience's attention with car chases and breasts heaving up and down while sexy things run, like in an action film, but with a hostage taking. And everyone's in the trap, including the audience.

The hostage and the guy pointing the gun (Wesley Snipes) are trapped in their standoff for most of the film. Meanwhile layers peal away as we begin to understand more and more about the source of the pain and the reason for the target of the desperate action.

The audience likes to be on the side of some main character who is outside of the stand-off, the person that will cause strength and good to prevail; but the director has ingeniously put the audience identification into the stand-off: equally into the emotional trauma of both the hostage and the hostage taker. Eventually you begin to feel the absurdity and desperation of the situation; eventually you realize that both feel trapped, and consequently the audience has little relief from the situation.

There's no Arnold Schwarzenegger coming to the rescue by blazing bigger more illegal weapons, and that is exactly what is intended, in my opinion. The big pay-off in this film is that it actually makes the audience think! Uncomfortable for some, but certainly worthwhile as a political statement and interesting filmmaking.