Alright gawd damnit who tricked my ass!? Awesome thriller they said! You'll really like it, check it out they said! It's very suspenseful and entertaining they said! Sure, fine, whatever, but did it have to be another Lifetime Original Movie? Why exclude THAT important bit information when you send me these things. Why I ask you?
Valkor's Conscience: Because they know you'll just toss it in the fire.
Fair enough. Thankfully this one didn't face the flames and it turns out Lifetime actually makes a movie even us guys can enjoy, if you're willing to stick around long enough. Sure I'll probably never tune into the channel, but in doses such as this? Yea, I can deal. This round I saddle up with "Gone" (what's with these one word films I've been reviewing these days?), a Lifetime suspense thriller that's actually not all that bad.
Gone centers on wife and motherAmy Kettering (Molly Parker), who's going through some tough times; she's a victim of rape, in the midst of a divorce, plus hubby David Kettering (Lochlyn Munro) wants full custody of their daughter Emily (Natasha Calis). Things go from bad to worse when Amy goes to pick Emily up from school, only to find out she's nowhere to be found. Amy receives a call from a stranger stating that he has Emily and if she wants to see her alive, she'll do what he says. The kidnapper wants Amy to kill a journalist, who has been admitted into the hospital where she works. The journalist (who's seen in the beginning of the film being chased), knows something about batches of influenza vaccines that have gone missing. However all hell breaks loose when the journalist flips teh script on Amy and holds her as hostage to get out of teh hospital. Unfortunately for teh journalist, there's a hitman waiting just outside. All hell breaks loose and the journalist is killed by the hitman and teh hitman winds up dead by Amy.
With the journalist dead, the hitman dead, and no traces of her daughter, Amy decides to take things into her own hands. And in doing so, she'll not only have to figure out where her daughter is being held, but also uncover a medical conspiracy involving politicians and the police, who stand to gain financially.
The question of the day: How far would you go, to save the one you love?
The Good:
The last time I reviewed a Lifetime film, it was "The Boy She Met Online". It wasn't that bad (I gave it a 3), however Gone is a touch better. The story is play by the numbers and you'll follow along with ease. There are a few obvious twists, but it doesn't detract you from the experience; once you're in, you're all in. Overall, for a Lifetime film, I found it very engaging, suspenseful, and quite entertaining. Finally I found the main actor, Molly Parker, to be very convincing in her portrayal of a mom who's been through some rough patches, only to get stuck in an even stickier situation. Kudos.
The Bad:
First up the film is way too predictable. You'd think for that reason alone there'd be no suspense, but there's some. However beat for beat you'll know what happens before it happens. But I kept watching nonetheless. Finally, there's waaaaay too much foreshadowing. Some things you can expect such as Amy's judo lessons, or the gun she keeps in her drawer. But others were a little too obvious such as Emily learning sign language, or the fact that she leaves little stickers around. Actually the sign language works. The sticker bit… not so much.
The Ugly:
All my rage when I saw this was a Lifetime movie.
Gone is available now and yea I will admit, it was pretty good. This is the kind of film you discover while skipping through channels and once you start watching it, you won't want to look away until it ends. The story is nice (albeit predictable) and there's a nice dose of suspense that makes Gone worth at least a rental (this goes out to all you Netflix fans). So out of TOV 5 stars, I give a 3.5.
The next flick I'll be reviewing has Jean Claude Van Damme in it, which should more than make up for this… I hope.
