The premise is something unique, and it's a wonder there aren't more films about fugitives coming to terms with lives based on lies.
But this just isn't a big or bold enough telling of such a story. Sure a lot of dramatic things happen along the way, but the writers try a little bit too hard to make the characters goody goody two shoes that need to be rooted for. There isn't exactly a lot of subtlety to the reason why this family is on the run. The family doesn't feel entirely believable as real people. There isn't a lot of faith placed in the viewer's interest. The writers felt that they had to make the parents just bad enough to warrant fugitive status from the FBI, but not so terrible that we lose all sympathy for them. They bombed a lab, but it was a GOVERNMENT lab making NAPALM. They hurt some people, but it was a JANITOR who was only MAIMED by ACCIDENT. How convenient, I hope you like rooting for the bleeding heart liberals. I just would have appreciated, as a viewer, a little bit more depth to their predicament.
Other problems were that the family just seemed a wee bit too smart for their own good. Surely a couple that has been on the run for 17 years would be resourceful enough to move to another country, especially with two kids in tow. It's not like they were bound to the US by virtue of staying to visit the grandparents every so often.
The cast is good, the chemistry is well played out between the actors, it's just the writing and line delivery that leaves something to be desired. There is only so much induced eye rolling from a particularly corny line or two. And in a subject as delicate as this, that is a death knell for any validity this film would have had.
Decent, but forgettable.
But this just isn't a big or bold enough telling of such a story. Sure a lot of dramatic things happen along the way, but the writers try a little bit too hard to make the characters goody goody two shoes that need to be rooted for. There isn't exactly a lot of subtlety to the reason why this family is on the run. The family doesn't feel entirely believable as real people. There isn't a lot of faith placed in the viewer's interest. The writers felt that they had to make the parents just bad enough to warrant fugitive status from the FBI, but not so terrible that we lose all sympathy for them. They bombed a lab, but it was a GOVERNMENT lab making NAPALM. They hurt some people, but it was a JANITOR who was only MAIMED by ACCIDENT. How convenient, I hope you like rooting for the bleeding heart liberals. I just would have appreciated, as a viewer, a little bit more depth to their predicament.
Other problems were that the family just seemed a wee bit too smart for their own good. Surely a couple that has been on the run for 17 years would be resourceful enough to move to another country, especially with two kids in tow. It's not like they were bound to the US by virtue of staying to visit the grandparents every so often.
The cast is good, the chemistry is well played out between the actors, it's just the writing and line delivery that leaves something to be desired. There is only so much induced eye rolling from a particularly corny line or two. And in a subject as delicate as this, that is a death knell for any validity this film would have had.
Decent, but forgettable.