Certain Prey

Painful. One of the worst screenplays ever written. The acting is not much better. The entire film is a caricature, an excruciating attempt at modern film noir that fails from the opening frames.

From the cheesy, Sam Spade-esque voice-overs, to the excessively cliché dialog, to the ridiculous costumes (the deputy police chief wears panty hose over his head while breaking and entering, as does the assassin.)

Once you understand you're watching a terrible movie, you can almost laugh at how awful everything is. Honestly, this should have been a comedy.

Unless you enjoy pain, this is an easy pass.

After what was a disappointing start, Certain Prey settled into a comfortable watch for the evening. The initial acting was stiff and apart from Mark Harmon and Lola Glaudini, the cast were generally underwhelming. The script improved as the movie progressed and thankfully the plot in which 2 women commit a series of murders was better than expected. The only thing I truly disliked was the narrative by Harmon during the movie which explained too much from the book. It was uneccessarily distracting and quite annoying. All in all I'm glad I tuned in to watch Harmon in something other than NCIS.

The novel and entire series are amazing. This was serviceable, mostly because Harmon, in particular, just doesn't have the edge Lucas Davenport calls for. And I wasn't particularly impressed with the woman cast as Clara either. As a result, this did not live up to the book despite a valiant effort by Chris Geralmo who is talented. Average.

If you hadn't read the book you'd probably be decently confused. I was able to follow along as I had finished the book the night before I watched it but it was pretty choppy. It got most of the main parts but got some things wrong.

One thing I'd like to add is there is a goof in this IMDB page that says Lucas wouldn't be on 35W to get to his cabin in Wisconsin. In reality, it's entirely possible for him to be on 35W to get to his cabin based on where they say his cabin is in Wisconsin. They don't say he drove 35W the entire way. That should not be listed as a goof. He frequently visits the area of Hayward and the best route there takes you up 35W for a while if coming from Minneapolis.

It's not the best movie that could have been made but it's a good taste. I also wouldn't picture Mark Harmon as Lucas but it's not that far off and doesn't really take away from the story telling.

I have read all of the Prey novels and am a big fan. I have been a Mark Harmon fan for years. I was thrilled to hear he would be playing Davenport and he did a pretty terrific job....if he'll lose the narration next time out.

But the casting? OMG, who did the casting? Carmel was a joke. The actress simply can't act. Rinker was good but Marcy? Hell, no! That has to be the worst casting this decade. Marcy is a tough as nails broad and not a bimbo.

Let's get some real casting next time around. Actors who are really worth the wait for the next Prey installment.