Simply A Masterpiece

Don't Believe the Hype

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

As far as Lori Petty is concerned, this movie is proof positive that the long rumored "casting couch" in Hollywood, is not just rumor, but indeed fact. This is not be to be a slam on Ms. Petty, but, she is no where near talented enough to carry this picture. One can also fault the scriptwriters. There is no actress that could have made this a better movie, but Ms. Petty's lack of talent is obvious. On a positive note, Ms. Petty has made a career, and a lot of money, doing something that she is not very good at. At least she gained financial security while living her dream. Which brings us back to the beginning. Since she doesn't practice her craft for free, and she's not very talented at all in her chosen profession, then the only explanation must be the couch.

I am still trying to figure out what the target of this movie was: 1) Whether to show how stupid, disorganized, unprofessional and arrogant the police is (I surely could add various adjectives here, but I think my point on this is clear). 2) Whether to show how a twisted-minded crook that does not know what he wants from himself can create chaos. 3) Whether to show if a persistent detective will solve a case just by asking the criminal the same stupid question over and over again till the criminal answers? 4) Or was it just to show that any 90 minutes of filmed material can still be called a MOVIE…This was one of those movies, that in a way - did not disappoint me. From the first 10 minutes I kind of figured out that this movie will not be nominated for the best movie award, and surprisingly enough – this was consistent throughout the whole time. It was stupid enough to be worth the wait to see how stupidly it will continue and end – and I was not disappointed there either. Was it a complete waist of time? YES. Which raises your question – WHY DID I WATCH IT THROUGHOUT? Well, I was trying to fall asleep, and I thought this was a great candidate for that, but unfortunately I had too much coffee before that

Only in the Hollywood audiovisual fiction world could anybody, including FBI agents, be so unbelievably stupid. The good guys are stupid enough to pick up everything they're interested in, answer phones, go up stairways, all in search for a demolition expert who's out to get everybody. Oh yes, and then we get the Hollywood SUPERVILLAIN. He can be shot, even if he's got a vest on, and then fall down a long flight of steps and then still have the upper hand over his stupid pursuers. Every cliché you can think of in suspense movies were used. I only watched it because Yuki Amami is so HOT. Oh,,,,but yes, it's great to see how morally superior this FBI agent is, when she's pretty certain that there's a bomb in an Opera House, and she doesn't sound the alarm. Who writes these scripts????????????

Following in the footsteps of Speed and Blown Away, Countdown is a fairly low-rent example of the 'Mad Bomber' sub-genre, but the movie is not without merit...Though the film provides few surprises, it remains a delight to see Lori Petty in a starring role for a change, and she is as watchable as ever in this movie. Her quirky presence is the film's great strength.Add one or two tense scene's and we have a decent thriller, albeit not an overly memorable one.Worth a rent.