‘Amber Alert’ Movie Review: Solid Actor Pairing Just Barely Lifts Kidnapping Thriller Out Of Routine
Photo from Lionsgate
From Jeremy Kibler
One would hope that twelve years was enough time for director Kerry Bellessa to right the wrongs of his first movie of the same name. 2012’s Amber Alert was framed as a found-footage film, but it was patience-trying, spent mostly in the car with dumb characters who incessantly argued and would never shut up — seeing them drive off a cliff would have been preferred. Starring Hayden Panettiere and Tyler James Williams (Gregory on Abbott Elementary), this Amber Alert is a little better, scrapping the found-footage gimmick and most importantly the annoying bickering, but not by much to be worth recommending.
In this loose reworking of the same general premise, it’s two complete strangers who end up going on a manhunt. Late for a date after missing her ride, Jaq (Hayden Panettiere) flags down rideshare driver Shane (Tyler James Williams). He’s off duty, and on his way to make things right with his son and ex-wife for his son’s birthday party, but gives in and hits the road. Along the way, an “amber alert” signals on each of their phones. The mother of the kidnapped child has happened to catch the general make and model of the abductor’s vehicle—a black Toyota Camry—but no license plate. Sure enough, Jaq spots that same car on the drive through Kentucky, pushing Shane to stay close and hopefully save a little girl.
With a more traditional narrative structure in play, director Bellessa opens the film with the actual kidnapping of 7-year-old Charlotte (Ducky Cash), who’s playing hide-and-seek with her brother at the playground while their mother and grandmother are preoccupied with their baby sibling. We also see the harrowing state the mother (an instantly sympathetic Katie McClellan) is in, as she rushes to the police station for help from a 911 operator (Saidah Aria Eklulona) and Sergeant Casey (Kevin Dunn). All of these expansions do help in making the viewer care, and this Amber Alert sustains itself more without having a backseat character shoot everything.
As the film finds heroes in everyday people, audiences will have the smug satisfaction of thinking that they would do everything right in this high-stress situation. A fierce Hayden Panettiere and a likable Tyler James Williams do make the proceedings easier to take and even watchable. When it’s only about the pursuit, the film is passably taut. Why Jaq and Shane would drop their own lives for a kidnapped little girl makes a lot more sense than three twentysomething friends (and their decision-making never makes you want to facepalm). The script by Bellesa & Joshua Oram also takes the time to draw out these characters in ways that feel more organic than not. Even if a certain monologue stops the film dead in its tracks, Panettiere delivers it with such raw emotion, while bringing context to Jaq’s motivation.
While it’s nothing new that films have exploited child abduction for thrills, the ickiness is still hard to swallow. This tough material clearly means a lot to director Kerry Bellessa, and he does provide some statistics right before the end credits roll. Instead, one just wishes they were watching 2013’s The Call with Halle Berry saving the day as a 911 operator. Too cheap and routine of a thriller to feel like an important PSA, Amber Alert will barely make a blip on the radar.
Rating: 2/5
Amber Alert hits select theaters and on demand on September 27, 2024.
