Amber Alert

This is the most annoying movie I have ever seen. I would have kicked that girl out of my car while driving down the road at 75 miles an hour. She was super annoying and how could anyone be best friends with that annoying, screaming wretch.

I suggest the if you are going to watch this... drink a lot of alcohol beforehand.

I watched this via my cable service On-Demand feature; just a random search and watch. On the plus side, I do have to admit that in spite of my hate for the characters, it is one of those movies where once you get hooked you have to watch until the end to see what happens. As I titled this review summary, I did make it through the end. But what an effort that was.

The story premise was not bad. But have I ever hated two characters more in a film than these two main characters? Never. I cannot recall such despise and hatred. The guy was an absolute narcissist in spite of his apparent affections for the female lead. His constant fighting back and lack of concern regarding the situation just grated to where I wanted to reach in the movie and punch the crap out of this dude (in spite of my non-violent nature). As for the female lead, unfortunately I felt likewise although I would never condone violence against a female just because she is stupid. Aaaargh! I have trouble writing this when I think about these two numb-skulls in action.

One last point that I have to criticize is that this movie insults our police forces. I cannot believe they would be as lax as they are portrayed in this movie. While not always perfect, I prefer to think the police response to an Amber Alert situation would merit a much quicker response. Unfortunately the movie premise would not have existed. Maybe that would have been a good thing.

I want to acknowledge that I completely understand that not every studio can afford to hire Steven Spielberg as a Director or have Matt Damon, Emma Stone, or Ryan Reynolds act in their movie. So I try very hard not to judge movies solely because they have a lower production value or less well known less talented actors or actresses. However, even with the most shoestring budget or the most inexperienced actors, I just have no sympathy for movies, who totally neglect, realistic situations, or do not do the research before hand before they write and make the movie. I think the subject matter amber alert puts forth is actually a very thought-provoking, a found footage type of movie, but not just a horror or slasher film, actually a pretty good idea. However, it is nothing less than embarrassing that they did not do any research about police procedure or even put an ounce of effort into making the situation that happened in Amber alert even remotely realistic. It is a real shame, because there was a lot of good ideas here to work with, but they just could not deliver on any of them.

I love found footage films. Favorite genre really and not hard to please but this film was pretty hard to enjoy. As others have mentioned after the characters are introduced you can skip sections of the film and not miss anything. If you watch the beginning, a bit of the middle and the last 20 or so you've seen what you need to. Was the ending worth it? No. But what I found really awful was how the characters were written. The way the lead female was directed to behave was atrocious. Nails on a chalkboard to listen to. She was awful. In ways you could understand her concern over a child in danger but that does not excuse her maddening harping, complaining, whining, etc. She made this movie the reason I was skipping forward to get to the end. I don't blame the actress, she was written or directed that way. It was awful.

I want the last hour plus of my life back.

Can I do that? This is my amber alert to stay away from this movie..If I can save just once person from watching this my job will be complete. If you want to see a movie that has a good hour of random driving with two people in the front seat just screaming at cars and each other, well then knock yourself out. No. Really. Knock yourself out. It will be better for you in the long run. Take a nap. I wish I had but all the incessant yelling and whining kept me awake. Horrid horrid movie. Why didn't I check the reviews? Please read your reviews first people! Stand up to bad film making.