On the last day of work, you hardly want the biggest case of your life. But that’s what Josh Duhamel gets in “Neglected,” a cat-and-mouse thriller that keeps the audience on edge.
His mission: Get to his son before the oxygen runs out in a hidden location. He learns of the situation when a serial killer (Dylan Sprouse) tells him he must solve three cases before he’ll give him the right clue.
Those three cases involve plenty of planning (they’re eye-opening) and a bit of backstory. Sprouse’s character has a bleak past that contributes to the “Silence of the Lambs”-like surprises.
Director David Lipper, who co-wrote the screenplay, ups the drama as the clock ticks down. While he might have given more details about Sprouse’s past, he does plenty with Duhamel’s fractured family life.
That underscores the urgency and lets Duhamel run, sweat and emote within a matter of minutes.
Meanwhile, there’s a bit of turmoil in the government that wants to get him out as a detective.
After he’s presented a pen (a pen!) at the police station, he gets the call and goes to work.
Lipper confuses with some of his choices (Jeremy and Jason London appear as twins and, frankly, they’re hard to separate) but knows how to pace.
His cinematography is increasingly devoid of life as time runs out.
While Elena Sanchez, a blockbuster stunt artist, could have been given more lines, she does plenty with the ones she has and gives Duhamel the support others don’t.
“Neglected” is short, which means some of the stories could have been fleshed out. A look at the killer’s past could have explained why he chose Duhamel’s son and why there’s a deadline.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source tucson.com ’
