Let me tell you up front...I enjoyed this movie. To keep me awake on a Friday night after a long week, the movie's gotta be entertaining. I stayed awake till the end for this one. But that's the extent of my praise. There was just enough suspense in this movie to keep my eyes open. Here's the skinny, using AZguy's five star rating system:

Entertainment factor: The plot moves along at a good pace. While formulaic, it provides just enough of a twist here and there to keep you interested. There are some pretty good flashback sequences that progress throughout the movie to keep you into the whole mystery behind the plot.

Star factor: Are you sick of seeing Michael Douglas play an attractive, suave, affluent 40-50 (even though it looks to me like he's sneaking into those 60's) year old guy yet? No? That's good news. Go ahead and spend your $8 and enjoy the movie.

Female factor: Famke Janssen, who play's Douglas's wife, Aggie, is very hot. Check her out in X-Men and X-Men II coming out in 2002. If you really dig her, head over to IMDB.com and see everything else she's been in. Brittany Murphy (from Clueless) plays the psychotic faker (oops...gave something away there) and does a good job, much better than Jennifer Esposito does as the complimentary NY detective. She was, in a word, terrible. Easily the weakest link in the film.

Originality: Pretty formulaic. Nothing surprising. You won't walk away wondering what you just saw, or spend any time trying to fall asleep contemplating something from the movie. But like I mentioned earlier, it's "slightly different" enough.

Writing: Sometimes the writing in a film can make the actors look terrible. A great screenplay with minor actors can be a great film. This is neither good nor bad. The writing is fine, and the actors all seem in character. Except Esposito. Did I mention how terrible she was?

Recommended:
No

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older