Taken in Broad Daylight

...but as a movie, it's simply far too long.

The "Plot" section above tells you _everything_ there is about this movie.

The acting is neither very good nor particularly believable. You can tell it is a true story because no script writer would write something with so much filler where absolutely nothing happens. Even a bad scriptwriter would write something to fill the time.

It's a compelling story and I watched it far longer than I normally would have watched something of this calibre, but I ultimately had to turn it off to keep from yelling at the TV, "For $%^&^ sakes, DO something!"

Anne Sluti (Sara Canning) is a 17 year old girl in Nebraska who gets kidnapped by a crazy Tony Zappa (James Van Der Beek). LeVar Burton plays police detective Mike Timbrook.

It's a slow moving Lifetime movie. The kidnapping is compelling but the story just drags along for far too long. There isn't enough depth in the story. James Van Der Beek isn't menacing enough. He just doesn't act crazy well. Maybe the investigation shouldn't be half the movie. Maybe if this was a tough character study of Zappa. Maybe it should be just a two person play. Maybe if the production value was more than the standard TV movie.

A lot of the reviews are moderately negative. I would have to agree to some extent with them. eg - it may be a run of the mill kidnap film. But for me James van der beek made this film very watchable indeed. I've grown up in the generation of Dawson's creek, so that was all i've really seen him in. Except from another good turn in The Rules Of Attraction. His performance in this was outstanding. What i consider a fairly realistic interpretation of a sociopath/kidnapper. But how do i know whats realistic for that character? LOL. Give this film a watch, it may have been done before, but van der beek makes the difference between bad and good in my opinion. 8/10.

I don't want to sound like an amateur film critic like most of the above, so I'll just say that this film is god-awful, with weak, unconvincing performances all round (particularly the captor). It's like watching a long-winded reconstruction on a crime phone-in show. Avoid at all costs. Clean the oven or something. Dear o dear. There really isn't anything else I can add. I could try but I'd just be waffling. OK, OK, Sarah Canning is half decent I suppose. But it ends there. It really does. Maybe give the oven a miss. wipe the tops of the cupboards or something. Or maybe watch another film altogether if you're that desperate. It really is bad.

The acting is quite superb, when it comes to the two main characters ... unfortunately, the movie will most likely hinder James Van Der Beek's career ... much like Sleepers and Hallow Man marred Kevin Bacon's career. The public glorifies its heroes, but once that hero joins the dark side ... the public moves on, in search of a new hero. Actors need to be a lot more careful in the roles they choose, because the remainder of their careers depend on the choices they make! There are far too many victims in America ... portray a predator in one of these type movies and you lose a whole slew of fans ... specially if you portray more than one! Believe this, playing Ted Bundy did nothing positive for Mark Harmon's career.

Both leads are extremely powerful as portrayed by Sarah Canning & James Van Der Beek ... I was very surprised to find that LeVar Burton, from Star Trek NG, played the part of Mike Timbrook. LeVar looked so different, I did not recognize him ... but his acting was spot on!