Detained

I don't really know what made me choose to watch this movie. Maybe it was the short description on IMDB that caught my attention. I have seen many great movies with the same premise, so there was a chance that this movie would be interesting. In many ways, Detained reminds me of the Saw movies, where some people with vastly different backgrounds, yet something in common, wake up in a room without remembering how they ended up there. Unlike the Saw movies, however, this is not a horror film with a lot of bloody traps. This film uses manipulation and dialogue to play everyone against each other, sometimes in an overly simplistic way. The movie contains some twists and turns, but it takes a bit more to fool a seasoned movie lover like me. It's a downside that I figured out how it would end relatively early in the film. But it is not a boring movie, so if you're bored and don't really know what to do, you could give this one a chance.

I grew up on the Twilight Zone and love the genre - even when the delivery falls short. So when I see a low budget film like this, I just imagine I'm putting on a modern Twilight Zone episode and just enjoy it for what it is. There is something lovely about a closed set and a variety of actors with diverse motivations and a Cube or Usual Suspects flavor that is just fun for its own sake. You can't watch this hoping for a Fincher outcome and then ding it when it doesn't meet that expectation. That said, if they had tightened the script a bit more and done a few more takes for some of the emotional moments, it would have landed better. Give Mucci some dollars and let him make another one. I kept thinking I saw flashes of inspiration that might prove profitable next time around.

Detained is a strong contender for worst film of the year so far, I haven't seen a thriller this insanely overblown and outlandishly meaningless since... I dunno. It's sad to see a classy actress like Abbie Cornish stuck in this crap, playing a young woman who wakes up in a police station and is grilled by two hostile detectives (Moon Bloodgood & Laz Alonso) about a supposed hit and run that she has no memory of. Of course that's not really what's going on, and once the film gets past that initial setup and tries to orchestrate a bunch of stupid twists that it thinks are oh so clever, you'll abandon all hope of making sense of it. It tries everything to impress; weird double crosses, red herrings, nonsensical plot turns and even an eye rolling Keyser Soze angle that makes it feel even more like a try-hard ripoff. I have seen thrillers that walk a fine line in making sense of their more bombastic elements and even some that don't, but get a free pass on sheer energy and enthusiasm alone. This one gets neither; it's loud, mean spirited, lazy storytelling of the worst kind.

Detained is about a young woman held in police custody for a DUI resulting in the death of a cyclist. However the detention does not go according to plan, and there are twists and turns along the way that make this a half decent thriller.

I saw Abbie Cornish's name on the cast list and almost didn't watch it as she is by no means an A or even a B lister of note. However I was intrigued by some write ups so decided to give it a watch.

Almost the entire movie is filmed in the police station and it's filmed quite well too. The direction is also very passable, although the story which has tons of potential, isn't as good as it could have been. Same with the acting, with the best performance coming from Moon Bloodgood. Cornish is passably OK although still in B movie territory for me.

I wouldn't rave about it as the main -almost mythical- bad character known as JoVan is identifiable within the first half hour. Some of the acting is poor and the story could be much better. However I gave it a 5 as if you've got nothing else to watch, it's not awful.

Critics and Hollywood wake up. All you need is one set, a sharp script and the movie to be well acted. This twisted indie crime thriller didnt disappoint, despite the flaws.

It starts when following a bloodbath prologue, the enigmatic and bruised Rebecca (Abbie Cornish) wakes up in a dilapidated police station. The pace of the drama, the unpredictability and the predictability will keep you entertained and guessing until the end.

Usually when I see the Quiver logo before a film I get scared, but I was pleasantly surprised by Detained. Not a masterpiece, but it has its moments. So worth a watch.