Beeper

I wanted to see a thriller with Harvey Keitel and I was fooled, I had to swallow a Bollywood s..t. I hate Bollywood films. It is indeed an exceptional Bollywood, it has no silly songs and dances. Otherwise, the action and almost all the actors are Indian. And it's not great, everything is predictable. At minute 29.07, when the kidnapper fires the pistol at the teddy bear, shots are heard like from a pistol with a silencer, but the pistol doesn't have such a thing. The most embarrassing scene is the final one, when the father grabs his child by the hand from the kidnapper, the blonde policewoman. No stars!

I think that last review was pretty harsh, although he/she did say it was just their opinion. While Beeper isn't a great movie, it did the two things that I beg of a movie: (1) I didn't know what was going to happen next, and (2) I WANTED to know what was going to happen next. I agree that Harvey Keitel seemed to be looking a little long in the tooth in this film. It was a low budget movie, so I place the bar accordingly. I also agree that the kid wasn't the best actor (to say the least). But I thought the story itself...which is most important to me...was solid and engaging. It also seemed to avoid cliches; thank you for that. I think this is the same guy who did "The Hidden", and while it's not as good as that classic, I have to say I really did enjoy "Beeper".

When Dr. Richard Avery's son is kidnapped while attending a professional convention in India, he must endure a 24 hour nightmare. Supplied with a beeper containing a text display through which instructions are sent, a desperate Avery is ordered on a wild and dangerous journey in a foreign land.

This is the basic set up of Beeper, but get ready for a jet ride because Beeper is non stop thrills and action. Just think, what would you do if someone you loved was kidnapped? Scary as heck, but it happens all the time in foreign countries. And all people can do is hope and pray, unless you're brave like Dr. Avery. He's a kick ass hero! Check this film out!

This movie starts downhill the moment we fly with our protagonist to India, which is a montage of canned footage and poor set designs. The enciting scene where Ed Quinn's son is kidnapped is shot in a gaudy rendition of an Indian convention center, with stereotypical Hindi designs and gold plating covering every wall and pillar. Quinn runs outside to see if he can find his son, and we cut to yet another canned shot of Delhi street life.

The film says it was shot in India. I cannot believe that anyone with a budget to shoot overseas would create such atrocious sets rather than shoot on-location. I cannot believe that any native Indian would take part in such a grotesque representation of the nation and its people. The script is predictable, and while Joey Laruen Adams and Harvey Keitel aren't bad actors, this story does their respective careers no favors.

I hate to be rude, because it is an accomplishment that this film went through production and distribution, but the best moment in the film is the fade to black. This film shows no respect to the nation of India or its people, nor to the tenents of a good script or good acting.

Beeper is simply put, a mediocre movie. It places our SWM hero in a strange and exotic society and from there it tries to develop a thriller, but failing on multiple levels. No exciting pictures of Indian society, no logic in many of the actions, police work is horrible, sets are awful - you get to see some footage of a Boeing 747 the main characters are supposed to fly, but inside it looks like in the 50's.

And what the heck is Keitel doing in this movie? Did he owe Jack Sholder a favor? Was desperate for some money? Got a free trip to India? Anyway, even he can't save this one. Oh yes, and look for the car chase...in The Hidden, Sholder got to play with Ferraris, here he works his car chase-skills on some antiqued cabs. Cheap, but entertaining. Still, go find The Hidden, it's much much better.