A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is another movie that might make a better play. We are given quick 30 second character introductions before everyone crowds together. With the title being "Elevator" it isn't hard to guess where this thing is going and what is going to happen. What makes the story interesting is the characters and details.The characters consist of a claustrophobic comedian (Joey Slotnick) who insults about everyone. There is Mr. Barrow (John Getz), CEO and multi-millionaire along with his very bratty granddaughter (Rachel and Amanda Pace.) There is a well dressed man from the office, Don (Christopher Backus), his future wife and TV newscaster Maureen (Tehmina Sunny). Celine (Anita Briem) is a pretty blonde who is pregnant. She works in the same office as Don and until recently they worked rather closely...and for some reason he has never mentioned her to his future wife Maureen. Martin (Devin Ratray) is the heavy set man who also works for Mr. Barton. Jane Redding (Shirley Knight) is a disgruntle investor who takes her medication with Irish whiskey. Her husband recently passed away and she represents the 99% ers with an ax to grind. Mohammed (Waleed Zuaiter) is the security guard on the elevator. They are on they way up to a diner/celebration for Mr. Barrow's company. As the elevator gets stuck (c'mon you knew that was coming) Mr. Barrow remarks, "I hate to miss the first course." Movie has class struggle politics, terrorism, and prejudice as multiple themes.As always we have the personality clashes and heroics. Fairly decent drama/thriller with enough light moments. Not overpowering but well done and well acted.F-bomb, no sex, no nudity, woman relieving herself on elevator. What is most unbelievable is the $3 million dollar budget. How much does getting the rights to Muzak cost?

the moral of this story is do not use elevators because elevators can be risky you never know who is a criminal and might by carrying something dangerous even batman and James Bond wont help you always use the stairs and be safe don't be lazy.the plot:9 people board the elevator in a building when an accident happens by mistake or on purpose by the little girl who pushes the stop button the situation gets even worse when one of them is carrying a bomb.the cast:everyone did decent acting staying true to their characters i liked Tehmina Sunny very much here but the stereotypical dialogs and racism could have been avoided.what would you do in a situation like this these guys could have managed it easily by climbing through the wires from roof hatch first of all the security at wall street is no joke specially after 9/11 & why there is always a kid and a racist guy in every movie its enough we can hold Russel peters responsible for this, the script is written by 5 years old i guess.Overall Elevator 2011 misses the destination but its a worthy time pass film my rating is 4/10.

A diverse group of people take an elevator to a corporate event . Due to the actions of the spoiled granddaughter of the company boss the lift becomes stuck . What may on the surface seem like a torturous inconvenience ends up becoming mortal peril for the group when it's revealed that one of the guests is carrying a bomb I'm slightly at a loss why ELEVATOR isn't held in slightly higher regard by my peers on this website . I watched it on the British Horror Channel and may be this is the problem ? If you're coming in to this movie expecting graphic violence , torture porn and the like you're going to be very disappointed because this is not a movie for hardcore gore hounds . Instead ELEVATOR is a low budget minimalist indie type thriller where people find a bad situation turn far worse than they expected . It's almost a very good film . Almost " Hey Theo you said almost . Out with it . What's on your mind ? " I don't know if it's down to my recent marathon short film sessions along with seeing the occasional independent film like THE PERFECT HOST but there is an off beat quirky nature to many of the movies I've reviewed recently and ELEVATOR starts off in the exact same vein with the characters being introduced and the pivotal character is George Axelrod , a vulgar smart ass comedian who has the displeasure of both being stuck in a life and being stuck in a lift with a ten year old spoilt brat and other people he doesn't like . He shows signs of misanthropy and despite never being in the same league as Christopher Hitchens when it comes to abrasive put downs George shoots from the lip and you can buy this guy existing in the real world and not just in a movie . I would have liked to have seen more of George becoming more frustrated with the situation and his fellow captives become more frustrated at him Unfortunately because this film is about a time bomb in a lift and not misanthrope reminds himself why he hates people the film centres around who is the bomber and what can they do to stop the bomb exploding . There is some blood and violence but remember this is not a horror film and perhaps more importantly this isn't a massive blockbuster from a major Hollywood studio so there's no mock heroics from some pretty boys , no stunt work and no CGI which means a lot of people will find it somewhat lacking in excitement . As it stands ELEVATOR is more than adequate but I would have liked it more if had stayed a quirky off beat drama instead moving in to thriller territory

The film opens to someone making a bomb which he tells an unseen guest will kill anyone within five meters. Then we have a variety of shots of a rich city in twilight. Various people get ready to go to the Barton Building in New York City. They end up in the same elevator A.Donald Handley (tall Anglo executive; entitled to the hilt) and his fiancée Maureen Asana (reporter), Jane Redding (older lady, drinks hard liquor before leaving), Martin Gossling (middle aged, Anglo, heavy set), Don's assistant, George Axelrod (comedian, immediately attacks Don's assistant with racist humour; claustrophobic), Henry and Madeline (Henry's grandfather) Barton, and Celine Fouquet.Because George is claustrophobic, Madeline pushes the STOP button. She calls him a liar, he calls her an evil bitch. There's the start. The elevator will not start up again.Building security has no idea what to do. Barton talks to his wife on his cell; he tells her he's stuck. They call security again; a variety of excuses are offered up. Barton asks for the security man's name; he hangs up and cannot be reached again.Celine is pregnant, by Don; this takes a while to come out openly. They work in the same department, so Maureen wonders why Don did not greet her. A bit later, Celine has to urinate, much to everyone else's consternation.George is Jewish; Don's assistant is Muslim as George suspected. He manages to insult Maureen (Indian heritage) directly as well. The battle lines are drawn, verbally at least.Jane's son died in Iraq. The emotional fallout depressed her husband Neal, and they hoped to start sailing with their savings. However, 'Barton Investments lost all our money.' Don was the one who suggested the loser investments. Barton himself more or less shrugged it off. "I don't mean to sound callous," says Barton, "it's always the investor's decision." That did not go over well. Jane sees that her bomb will not quite go off as expected because the elevator stopped. She dies of heart failure.Maureen starts a newscast from the elevator via her cell phone. Barton keeps saying losses are the client's responsibility. Great stuff. Celine gets stuck with patting down Jane's corpse for bomb paraphernalia; sure enough, Jane had strapped on a bomb. Martin helps Don see if they can egress via the ceiling. Barton gets a call from his wife, who has heard the news through the television broadcasts.Do they all make it out safely? ------Scores--------Cinematography: 10/10 Great looking exteriors. Excellent interiors. Most of the film is interior.Sound: 9/10 Mostly fine.Acting: 10/10 Shirley Knight, John Getz, and Devin Ratray are veterans who know how to act. Joey Slotnik is a veteran as well, and served as a very abrasive thorn. The rest were competent or better. The twins did reasonably well as the villain the piece, the incredibly rotten grand daughter.Screenplay: 9/10 The story moves along well, and does not show internal contradictions. The human interactions were often touching.