| TORTURED |
|
|
|
| Written by Joseph B. Mauceri | |
| Friday, 12 September 2008 | |
|
Available: September 16, 2008 (DTV)* Director/Screenplay: Nolan H. Lebovitz Cast: Cole Hauser, James Cromwell, Laurence Fishburne, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and James Denton. Synopsis: Jimmy Vaughn (Cole Hauser) is a young, ambitious FBI agent who undertakes the mission of infiltrating a long-established underworld figure named Ziggy. Ziggy has evaded the FBI for decades and Vaughn feels he has the strength and skills to take him down. What he doesn’t expect is the brutal initiation rites into Ziggy’s world. After enduring beatings and interrogations, Vaughn receives his final test - to inflict severe physical and psychological torture on Ziggy’s accountant (Laurence Fishburne), whom he alleges stole money from him. From here on in, his double life starts to unravel. His longtime girlfriend (Emmanuelle Chriqui) leaves him, the FBI psychiatrist (Kevin Pollack – TV’s “Shark”) recommends aborting the mission and even his father (James Cromwell), a senior agent, cautions him. But Vaughn cannot be dissuaded as he is in too far. Horrific twists emerge as he dives deeper into the criminal underbelly, discovering that in Ziggy’s world, everyone is tortured. (Provided by studio) Rating: “R” Review: Director/Screenwriter Nolan H. Lebovitz skillfully combines themes from “Usual Suspects” and “SAW” to deliver an edge-of-your-seat thriller with a few nasty tidbits. Added into the mix is an amazing cast that makes TORTURED an exceptional direct to video release. Lebovitz does an excellent job of crafting his tension and suspense around both the plot and the torture sequences. As you’re sitting there trying to sleuth out who Ziggy is, the Keyser Söze of TORTURED, you’re squirming in your seat as Archie Green is tortured in hopes of giving up the truth behind the skimming of Ziggy’s money. The production values are definitely above average, especially in terms of something that only gets a DVD release or ends up as the movie of the week on cable. Not only is this a brilliant cast, but Lebovitz gets superior performances. You wouldn’t expect less from James Cromwell or Laurence Fishburne, and Cole Hauser is right up there with the best of them. In fact, given Cole Hauser’s excellent body of work it seems that he is one of the most underrated talents working in the business today. Watching him work in TORTURED you feel his character’s pain of being plagued by personal demons. Given the current price of a movie ticket, TORTURED is a rare direct to DVD release that will not leave you feeling cheated. The DVD extras on the disc are rather thin. The “behind-the-scenes” featurette was interesting, but there’s not that much to it. It feels more like a fluff pieces you’d find as an HBO “first look” piece as opposed to a hardcore featurette that would satisfy a true cinemaphile. But don’t let that detract you from picking up this solid thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end. LINK THIS ARTICLE             |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Interested in becoming an advertiser on FEARS?
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it