Reclaim (2014)

Another movie portraying and suggesting how criminal offences happen best in a land far away from the western world.The real-life lesson: there is on lesson that can be taken from this: scams do exist. I personally am a very optimistic person and would rely on peoples good intention and will in most cases not thinking about scams, but as this movie shows, scams are common and should be taken seriously. Also, people should not be believed just because they show up to your door and ask you to follow them on the basement (like the couple beloved the girl when she said she knew where Nina was. Plausibility: the scam happening is definitely possible and so is the way the couple escapes. This as a matter of fact was one of the strengths of the movie: the criminals are people too and so they make mistakes and things get out of their control (like loosing the Steven at the bank or leaving the girlfriend alone with the couple and they escaping from girlfriends guard). Character analysis: Benjamin- a polite criminal - hated betrayal and was extremely greedy. All we know about him is that he claimed to be adapted too, why he did what he did was not explained and so left us with the implication that money was the only reason. He could have been developed further to give us a better understanding of his actions. Steven-bad decision maker- decisions that had had bad consequences in the past and as a result his self esteem and confidence is shaken. Shannon-bringing up that Steven's decisions have not always been the best (in the hotel when she said that use your judgement) did definitely not make her my favourite. But not be so harsh she is human and things are said at times when emotions are high as was the case with Shannon. Acting: Rachelle Lefevre was great and so was John Cusack. At the beginning I was thinking why did they cast Ryan Phillippe when he was doing such a poor job, but if the character was of Ryan Phillippe was supposed to be someone that comes across as insecure or a coward (as I learned later that this was the case ) than Ryan Phillippe too did a great job in bringing his character across as exactly that-insecure. Plot/Storyline development: it was at times slow. Especially when the movie was so keen to show us what a wonderful time the family was having. I think those scenes could have been moved way after. What I loved however was how when I believed that the story was over and they are save now only waiting for the criminal lady to be catch, the final action had not even started. That was an unexpected turn of events for me that I liked.

Low budget, low grade thriller which cynically pretends it is dealing with the issue of child trafficking.In fact its just a dumb trailer with multiple endings to pad out its short running time and lack of main plot.Steven (Ryan Phillippe) and Shannon (Rachelle Lefevre) are a couple who have received a multi million dollar payout after an automobile accident which also left her unable to have kids.They take part in an adoption process abroad to take care of an Haitian girl which is going to cost them a lot of money. Just before the process is finalized the keep bumping into Benjamin (John Cusack) and then later realise that the girl they were hoping to adopt has disappeared and the whole adoption process was a scam. As the local police tell them, the girl was reclaimed and the scam will move on elsewhere.However the schemers want more as they become aware that our couple have serious money so go for a big payday by kidnapping them.The film has a flimsy plot and flimsier action and just when you thought its all over we get a literal cliffhanger and then some more.The film actually feels longer than its short running time. It is a straight to pay TV film which has bagged a couple of well known names who perform adequately with a poor script and not very good direction. However the actress playing the adopted girl was very stiff and inanimate. If I was adopting her I would had asked for a refund.

I will give this 5/10 just because, but as a film i did not love this especially the screen writing, the plot of the film was amazing but it was so predictable, and the ending made it worse, again because of the writing. The guy was locked in the trunk of a car with a dead police officer, doesn't realize he has a gun until the very end, despite him banging so hard which can only mean he wanted to get out desperately, therefore there is no way he would have forgotten about the end. Another thing that really put me off is the fact that the little girl was in the plot all along, at her age, she should have known better, and yet when they discovered she was in, they still told her they'd take her home, which nobody in his right mind would... so yeah, great plot, poor writing. Isn't there a TV show with a slightly similar plot?

Try as I might otherwise, I am certain the NO ONE is as dumb as the parental couple in this film. Every decision the parents make is wrong. Upon multiple reviews, I could not come to similar choices if I were in their place. Again and again common sense is replaced by sheer stupidity. My frustration level was so high after watching, that when I returned home after watching, I was yelling so much at these simpletons that my dogs hid from me. If the writers and actors intent was to frustrate the paying patron with idiocy, I wish they'd let us know ahead of time so we could perhaps dig a hole in the back yard and toss the admission money into it instead. Anger and annoyance from the waste of my time.