elcee1987

First, this movie is an excellent demonstration of Hayden Panettiere's acting prowess. She carried this movie, even when no one else did. Conversely, I was disappointed in Bill Pullman's acting. I'm pretty sure he just phoned it in and showed up on payday. After seeing his inspiring leadership performance role in Independence Day, I was expecting, we'll, anything that might indicate a pulse. He failed to deliver. The plot was fine, but there were a lot of little holes that the movie glossed over in the interest of time. Like how the kids became so close so fast. From the foreshadowing on the plane ride, I expected there to be a bit more friction between the kids, but in the next scene, they were best friends. Hayden and her brother had cute chemistry but it was also a little unbelievable considering they apparently didn't know each other before the trip. Overall, the movie is worth watching. Just don't expect any life from Bill, and prepare to be amused with the cheapskate backgrounds used, particularly the unmoving sunset and repeating wave movement from the back of the ship.

Wow, what a sad film. I particularly enjoyed the lack of precision by actors playing Secret Service agents. They seemed like they were acting in a high school play. The same goes for most of the other actors, even Cuba Gooding Jr and Angie Harmon (of whom I am a huge fan, normally). The lack of chemistry between the two was painful and both of them seemed to have read the script moments before shooting.

The accuracy of facts when it comes to Secret Service and presidential policies felt embarrassingly off. I can only assume the low budget is the reason for having approximately 3-5 Secret Service agents surrounding the President, despite the fact that he was outside the White House. The lack of people outside of the main cast was very obvious. For instance, during the car chase supposedly set in downtown Washington DC in broad daylight, there are only 3 cars seen, all of which are involved in an plot line accident.

This movie was filmed entirely in Spokane, WA (except for aerial shots of DC) so as a native Spokaneite, I got a kick out of seeing a car chase scene outside of the downtown Rite Aid and a hot dog cart outside of Olive Garden (hot dog carts are a rare commodity in Spokane, as is foot traffic). I enjoyed watching this movie solely so I could say hey I know where that's at, or oh wow that's where I got my senior pictures taken, but if I hadn't been able to do that, I would have wanted those 90 minutes back.

Also, the blue tint to the movie made it feel dead and empty, rather than chilling and intense, like the director intended. PS. The low- budget phone conversations (where the camera tackily goes back and forth between two callers' mouths) were the highlight of my laugh fest while watching this movie.