[usr 2]
A war correspondent gets taken hostage while on assignment, prompting his mother, impatient with the government’s lack of concern, to take matters into her own hands.
Susan Sarandon stars in this dark movie launched by YouTube Original Film, better suited as a made-for-TV movie. I’m honestly not sure this movie was worth filming. Not the worst movie I’ve seen, just indifferent in its desire to be obscure. Writer and director Maryam Keshavarz, while not seasoned, is no amateur, and it’s not out of the realm to expect a movie with sincere emotion.
Night nurse Helen (Susan Sarandon) works in the emergency room, her coworkers serve as the only people – save her son – who take any of her time. Her days center on her grown son Andy (Julian Morris) and her nights center on training newbies at the hospital. She cares deeply for her patients but only because her son is gone to report on the war in Syria.
As the movie rolls into darkness from the first dimming of the lights, we find Andy kidnapped without pretense. Taken hostage for money in the war zone. In flashbacks, we see the apron strings tying Helen to her only child in her single life. No father, no explanation, just a boy growing into a pacifist with his mom doting on his every word.
Cinematic scenes of her teaching a small boy to skate or some other parts of daily life through the years are meant to emote a sense of motherhood like a spell over the audience. No deal. Many an actress has translated the wonder of motherhood across the screen like Michelle Pfeiffer and Sally Field. Susan Sarandon says the words and moves as told but that’s about it. She never connects to the script or role, which is what makes the flashbacks even more artificial.
Even her contacting the FBI for help fails to elicit strong sentiment with her in a barely frustrated state instead of a fever pitch of anger. FBI officials promise to find Andy lost in the middle east but red tape stalls the process, leading the Viper Club to find Helen and offer their assistance. The group protects their own and rallies the moneybags for ransom fees, something the government would never do.
The only reason the show maintained my attention was the process of decisions Helen makes to attempt saving her son. This is where truth finally enters and the gentle breeze of truth brings a sense of reality to this otherwise mundane indie film. Words and eloquence betray Helen as she only wants her son home to argue with while frying eggs for breakfast. With the Vipers, they pool together enough funds to rescue Andy but will the money be enough to keep Andy alive?
The sense of urgency and the expanding time balloons to this mother willing to do anything to bring her only loved one home. Helen does not understand the mechanics of singing for dollars or negotiating for a hostage as a single mother, night time nurse, and it shows almost like Erin Brockovich with a baby on her hip at the law office. Susan could have sunk further into the role but captures enough of her character’s inability to be at least passably believable.
The short ending did not add any favor to the body of the movie. A little more time should have been spent on the finale and eliminated from the body, which was too drawn out and uncomfortable to keep anyone sitting for two hours. While the end was unexpected, it failed to deliver and the whole project was left wanting, with the final tearful scene smashed in an awkward attempt at forcing a reaction again.
The only people who will connect with Susan’s portrayal or the depressing and wobbly close-ups will be those who have been in Helen’s shoes. One other saving aspect was her role in nurturing a new doctor as her replacement son. Here she shines as a vulnerable maternal figure. Otherwise, YouTube’s attempt at a heartfelt drama was contrived at best. Wait until this movie is on the smaller screen.
In select theaters Friday, November 2nd
