Liberty Stands Still (2002)

**** SPOILER ALERT **** The movie could have had potential if it wasn't an obvious attack on the 2nd amendment without any real world facts to support it. It was dull and dragged on though still somewhat watchable and then right around the time the husband is shot it all completely falls apart leaving so many things open to speculation. It's as thought the writer(s) were going along and all of a sudden fell into a blackout but kept scribbling. This film was clearly fueled by the sort of ignorance that is eating away at society as we speak. If only I could get back the time I wasted watching it which is disappointing as I generally enjoy Snipes' movies.

I always find it difficult to knock independent films since they frequently display a vision or a touch of originality that other more larger budget films do not care for. To make a film is difficult but to make one on such a low budget is almost an ordeal; so independent film-making from my point of view, should always be given some benefits of the doubt as they do not have such a large margin or error to work with. Here, Canadian director Kari Skogland has taken on a fascinating subject matter and attempted to make it into a taught and interesting thriller with a message; unfortunately, he fails to do so on the scale I expect he wanted to.At a time when the Washington sniper was at large, it seems interesting how this film managed to sneak under the radar the way it did. The film opened in a mere 49 cinemas in Italy and pretty much went straight to DVD in America; bar a film festival premiere in Palm Springs. At a time when Schumacher's Phone Booth (itself being put back due to the Washington sniper) and Moore's Bowling for Columbine attempted to tackle the idea of America's gun obsession, I am surprised Liberty Stands Still was the ghost film that it was. The film is outgoing; giving us two protagonists to map onto: there is Liberty (Fiorentino) who despite being the victim and embodying an innocent persona, is 'guilty' merely for the fact it is her company that made the gun that had Joe's (Snipes) daughter killed by another child. This is an interesting dilemma for the audience: do we side with innocent but on a larger level guilty female or black male victim who has suffered great loss. As far as prioritising its lead characters, Liberty Stands Still does a better job than Phone Booth which gives us the option of: obnoxious everyday man vs. psychopath; but this is just about all Liberty Stands Still does better than Phone Booth.The film is surprisingly unexciting; maintaining a steady if not unspectacular atmosphere throughout. Its attention to pace and subject matter directly on screen is another area that plods along at a gentile rate. The film's one item of suspense that it would like to think has us on tenterhooks the entire time is in the form of a bomb in a hot dog stand Liberty is ankle cuffed to. Hitchcock once said if there are two men in a room, at a table with a bomb underneath and it explodes, that is action; but if it does not explode, that is suspense. Well, delete 'two men' and replace with 'one woman' and replace 'table' with 'hot dog stand' and you have the premise for this film. Given that quote, the bomb is supposed to have us feeling uneasy and nervy but we are told it is powerful enough to destroy an entire two blocks or something; this raises two questions: If the bomb is detonated at any time during the film, the film ends there and then because I assume that since we're seeing the action in the immediate vicinity of the device; if it does go off the screen would just go black and that's the end. Secondly, I never for one moment got the feeling Joe was a mass-murderer nor would he ever detonate the bomb since he would also be killing himself. Joe is focused on Liberty and the fact she works for the company - he's not interested in everyone else.So in this sense, the film's main weapon of suspense it has; its 'ace' so to speak is a bit of an anti-climatic Macguffin since you don't get the feeling Joe is as crazy as, say, the sniper in Phone Booth who would have put a round between Farrell's eyes if he'd wanted to. Consequently, when various people wonder up to Liberty like police men or people looking for burgers or indeed Bill (Scarfe) who for some reason gets involved in the game, the atmosphere is anticlimactic: Joe cannot shoot these people because he will give away his position and he won't blow the bomb since the film will end there and then. That said, one such person is shot next to Liberty but the film is so wrapped up in its false knowledge that it has us on the edge of our seats that it doesn't even play out events in a realistic manner to the shooting. Where were the ambulance crews and police cars swarming around; someone maybe rushing to her without her giving so much as a chance to shout at them.Liberty Stands Still is a film that although has one man stand up against the society that sold the person the gun that killed his daughter, it does not ever give its characters much to speak about. I hate to talk of Phone Booth again but if Farrell's character was being made aware of his sins and being corrected, fair enough since there is evidence to suggest that; here, Joe and Liberty banter about this and that before her husband gets involved and Joe has to shoot some policemen on other roofs. Where wrongs should be made right and characters change, the film beds down into a negotiation situation more than anything else. The film has us believe that no one would notice the gun fire and ricochets that occur at certain times; nor does the film create much atmosphere as the music we hear is of the weird and electronic variety; totally zoning us out of anything we should be feeling. Whilst not a bad film, Liberty Stands Still feels like a genuine missed opportunity; an opportunity that given what was happening in Washington and Columbine at the time, could've changed how American's look at their gun ideas even more than what they eventually did.

This is a surprisingly awesome thriller, that's very tense and thrilling, with a memorable ending and an incredible performance from Wesley Snipes!. All the characters are cool. and the story is just awesome, plus Wesley Snipes is simply incredible in this!. Linda Fiorentino is simply wonderful, and there are plenty of shocking and disturbing moments, plus it had a very unique setting a hot dog stand!. One of my favorite moments in this film is when a cockroach crawls onto the bomb timer, it really is a tense moment!, and this has to be one of the best DTV thrillers i have ever seen!, plus The finale is especially good!. Sure it's extremely similar to Phone Booth, and while it may not be as good, it's still awesome in my opinion!, plus it's unpredictable and surprising throughout. You actually feel sorry for Snipe's character, as he is a tortured man, and all the characters were very likable!, plus This may be Snipe's best performance ever!. This is a surprisingly awesome thriller, that's very tense and thrilling, with a memorable ending, and an incredible performance from Wesley Snipes!, and i say it's a must see!. The Direction is great!. Kari Skogland does a great! job here, with excellent camera work, fine angles and keeping the film at a very fast pace!. The Acting is amazing!. Wesley Snipes is amazing as always, and is incredible here,he is a tortured man here, and you feel for him at times, it may not be the coolest character he has played, but in my opinion it may be his best performance, as he does an incredible job here, he is also extremely menacing, i was so impressed!, as i am a huge fan of this guy!(Snipes Rules!!!!!). Linda Fiorentino is gorgeous, and is wonderful here, she is extremely convincing, showed fear and vulnerability, was focused, and i rooted for her all the way!. Martin Cummins does not have much to do but sit in a chair and look at a bomb. Oliver Platt is OK here and did what he had to do adequately. Rest of the cast are fine. Overall a must see!. **** out of 5

"Liberty Stands Still" was the original phone-booth-style movie, actually coming out over a year before the much more popular film, "Phone Booth," did. "Liberty" premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 18, 2002 and was released very soon thereafter. "Phone Booth," on the other hand, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 10, 2002; got it's first US showing at the South By Southwest Film Fest on March 11, 2003; and and wasn't officially released to the US public until April 4th, 2003--well over a year after "Liberty Stands Still" played in theaters.Who copied who? I don't know. All I know is that the idea for this type of 'phone booth' thriller movie first appeared to the public with "Liberty Stands Still" in early January, 2002 (maybe even a little before). Who knows when or with whom the idea originated? Maybe Joel Schumacher was sitting on the "Phone Booth" story for a decade before he started trying to get it made. But, as far as I can see, his film is likely to have copied "Liberty Stands Still," not the other way around.If anyone knows otherwise or has evidence one way or the other, please post who first had the idea and your evidence for why you believe so. This is just a likely assumption. I don't know for sure.