This is not just your ordinary action/thriller. We are kept guessing constantly about what might happen. We mainly see what is essential, and details of the lives of those affected are pretty much left out. There are no background stories unless we need to hear them. Editing is rapid fire and if we have seen all we need to see, the action quickly switches to something else. For example, Mika is the reporter on the scene. In her first report, we spend more time watching her put on makeup than seeing what she actually has to say. We pretty much know, so that's not essential.
Camera work is quite unusual. Different angles in the same scene might be black and white while others are color. At first I thought the black and white was security footage, but most of the time the cameras are moving--mostly shaking. It may be somewhat unsettling but it's effective. And of course I mentioned the editing.
There is lots of good acting here. Bruce Greenwood is Tom Shea, the man in charge, who's not supposed to be but his superior is elsewhere and it will take time for him to get back. Shea was not happy with the results of the U.S.S. Cole attack and got himself demoted. But he knows what he's doing. Arnold Vosloo is the terrorist in charge. I'm going to guess that Manoj Sood is in charge of the control room, the man who desperately tries to keep the terrorists from doing anything harmful.
And the standout performer is Leslie Hope, the cop who is nervous and in pain after being shot while wearing a vest (this saves your life but doesn't prevent pain). She tries really hard and finds some valuable information.
Robert Kovacik, the dedicated news anchor, must cope with whatever comes his way. Live television has its problems, but he deals with them. He's so professional I figured he might be real, and the credits say he plays himself. Dagmar Midcap as the reporter on the scene lacks personality and doesn't seem much like a real journalist, but that's just because of the current state of journalism, where cute babes seem to matter more than hard news. She's attractive and gets the information across.
Two experts are listed in the credits as themselves. Dr. Jim Walsh seems quite nervous, which doesn't inspire confidence, but I guess there is realism there. David Rapoport comes across as calmer and more professional.
One thing bothered me about the news coverage. At times the entire screen is filled, with the anchor in the middle, graphics, and a crawl at the bottom, as if we are seeing what people actually see on TV. When people are being interviewed, a lot of that information goes away. That's not a big deal, I guess, because we're not actually watching the newscast, but it would have been more effective to show the TV screen exactly as others might have seen it.
It's a worthy effort with some important lessons about what this country's most vulnerable sites ought to be doing.
Camera work is quite unusual. Different angles in the same scene might be black and white while others are color. At first I thought the black and white was security footage, but most of the time the cameras are moving--mostly shaking. It may be somewhat unsettling but it's effective. And of course I mentioned the editing.
There is lots of good acting here. Bruce Greenwood is Tom Shea, the man in charge, who's not supposed to be but his superior is elsewhere and it will take time for him to get back. Shea was not happy with the results of the U.S.S. Cole attack and got himself demoted. But he knows what he's doing. Arnold Vosloo is the terrorist in charge. I'm going to guess that Manoj Sood is in charge of the control room, the man who desperately tries to keep the terrorists from doing anything harmful.
And the standout performer is Leslie Hope, the cop who is nervous and in pain after being shot while wearing a vest (this saves your life but doesn't prevent pain). She tries really hard and finds some valuable information.
Robert Kovacik, the dedicated news anchor, must cope with whatever comes his way. Live television has its problems, but he deals with them. He's so professional I figured he might be real, and the credits say he plays himself. Dagmar Midcap as the reporter on the scene lacks personality and doesn't seem much like a real journalist, but that's just because of the current state of journalism, where cute babes seem to matter more than hard news. She's attractive and gets the information across.
Two experts are listed in the credits as themselves. Dr. Jim Walsh seems quite nervous, which doesn't inspire confidence, but I guess there is realism there. David Rapoport comes across as calmer and more professional.
One thing bothered me about the news coverage. At times the entire screen is filled, with the anchor in the middle, graphics, and a crawl at the bottom, as if we are seeing what people actually see on TV. When people are being interviewed, a lot of that information goes away. That's not a big deal, I guess, because we're not actually watching the newscast, but it would have been more effective to show the TV screen exactly as others might have seen it.
It's a worthy effort with some important lessons about what this country's most vulnerable sites ought to be doing.