This ‘Hot Seat’ Will Have You Jumping (Movie Review)
Hot Seat
Rating: 9/10
Director: James Cullen Bressack
Writers: Collin Watts and Leon Langford
Style: Thriller
Rating: R
Time: 104 minutes
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9pa2zJSs4&feature=youtu.be
Review by Mike Szymanski
Just to get this out there up front, I feel like I helped discover James Cullen Bressack as a creative new director, calling him a talent to watch out for, and “horror’s new hope” at Studio City Patch about a dozen years ago.
Since then, he’s directed Chad Michael Murray and Bruce Willis in “Survive the Game,” Steve Seagal and DMX in “Beyond the Law” and Shannen Doherty and Tom Green in “Bethany.” I’ve followed his successes, and failures, from afar and am ever proud of pointing out this young guy’s talent.
His recent success is “Hot Seat” starring Kevin Dillon, Mel Gibson and Shannen Doherty.
Gibson, who is an award-winning director himself, supposedly was very nice on the set, and his role as a retiring cop is endearing and charming.
Bressack says, “Mel’s one of the greatest living directors there is, and he’s unbelievably talented. He elevates everything that he touches and is just a phenomenal actor and collaborator.”
The character’s humor and comedic aspect was Mel’s idea. “We went in and kind of tweaked up the dialogue to give him these one-liners, and he does it so convincingly and naturally that it doesn’t derail the intensity of the scene. It just shows how his character deals with tension, and I thought that was really a really great choice.”
And so, Gibson’s character is established as a chess player, and teased about being “old and washed up.” But when climbing 10 flights of stairs he mocks a younger guy saying, “Your mom wore me out before.” And when in a tough bind, his character is told: “Get me out of this thing and I’ll take you for ice cream” to which Gibson replies “Full fat.”
Kevin Dillon (yes, Matt’s less pretty more gritty brother) is an underrated actor who gets wasted in a lot of schlocky low-budget horror and action films. He plays the one-time hacker named Orlando who has some issues with his wife, Kim, (Lydia Hull). As he tries to slip out on his daughter’s birthday party, he is slapped with divorce papers from his wife.
Earlier in the day, Orlando hears about a bomb that went off in a local park, and it will turn out that the one victim there was someone he knew. When Orlando gets to the office, a bomb-maker phones in and warns him that his chair will explode if he stands up or even wheels his chair beyond a new rug under his desk. Orlando has to do some hacking for the bomber.
That brings in Shannen Doherty as a no-nonsense Police Chief Pam Connelly who is always chewing a huge wad of gum. She barks out orders and exudes toughness as she tries to figure out how to save Orlando, and how to control Gibson in his rogue-cop persona.
Of course Gibson is brilliant at playing rogue cops and there’s a taste of humor like in his iconic “Lethal Weapon” movies, but he seems like he’s the kind of guy who would play the role however he sees fit, no matter what direction he is given (being an Oscar winner and all). Gibson’s portrayal as a grizzled bomb squad cop plays off of his partner Jackson (Eddie Steeples).
Michael Welch portrays Orlando’s stupid work friend Enzo, and he’s overly irritating, until well, he isn’t. Anna Harr plays Orlando’s daughter Zoey, who seems to resent her dad but then learns to appreciate him a bit more.
I personally love the dumb blonde with a heart named Ava played by Kate Katzman, who finds herself stumbling into her own Hot Seat by pursuing Enzo. She whines a lot, and tells Orlando, “Just figure it out.”
Filmed in Las Cruces, New Mexico, it is an amazingly tight movie that was shot in only one week.
This is a suspense movie from the get-go in the tick-tock real-time panic you felt in countdown action thrillers like “Phone Booth” or “Speed.” Director James Cullen Bressack once again proves he knows how to create tension and twists no matter what genre he works in. You’ll enjoy being put in this “Hot Seat.”
“Hot Seat” is available on Aug. 5 on digital platforms.
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