Shot for a Canadian pay-TV network, SUDDENLY is a remake of Lewis Allen's 1954 thriller of the same name, starring Frank Sinatra. And, yes, it was directed by Uwe Boll - a man much maligned by stupid nerds/losers (= gamers) all around the world who clicked "1" on the IMDB movie ratings even before his films had even come out. I actually watched a number of his movies, some of them very bad (Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead), some mediocre (Dungeon Siege, Schmeling) - and some decent (1968 Tunnel Rats, Stoic, Darfur).
SUDDENLY falls into the middle category: mediocre. The low budget and brief shooting schedule (12 days) are immediately obvious from the very first scenes, which will convince no one that this was shot in the US. The build-up is fairly slow, but the second half turns out to be tense and suspenseful - within its TV movie limitations. The acting ranges from solid (Ray Liotta, Erin Karpluk, Michael Paré) to so-so (Dominc Purcell) to oh-dear-no (Don MacKay). There are a number of minor continuity errors, but nothing too distracting. The low budget cracks are most obvious in the assassination scene (surely the Obama-lookalike President should command more than a handful of townsfolk at his rally), but the low-key action is otherwise satisfactory and believable. The kid (Cole Coker) is a bit annoying, but then, most movie kids are.
If you expect 90 minutes of low-key thriller action on a decent TV-movie level, you won't be disappointed. Boll's direction rarely commands attention, as this was one of his "journeyman jobs" produced by others. But it's mostly technically proficient. Easily the most distracting aspect is the cheapo synth score by Stu Goldberg, which is mildly effective during its best moments, but howlingly off the mark in some isolated scenes (like the death of an old man, which features almost circus-style scoring).
SUDDENLY falls into the middle category: mediocre. The low budget and brief shooting schedule (12 days) are immediately obvious from the very first scenes, which will convince no one that this was shot in the US. The build-up is fairly slow, but the second half turns out to be tense and suspenseful - within its TV movie limitations. The acting ranges from solid (Ray Liotta, Erin Karpluk, Michael Paré) to so-so (Dominc Purcell) to oh-dear-no (Don MacKay). There are a number of minor continuity errors, but nothing too distracting. The low budget cracks are most obvious in the assassination scene (surely the Obama-lookalike President should command more than a handful of townsfolk at his rally), but the low-key action is otherwise satisfactory and believable. The kid (Cole Coker) is a bit annoying, but then, most movie kids are.
If you expect 90 minutes of low-key thriller action on a decent TV-movie level, you won't be disappointed. Boll's direction rarely commands attention, as this was one of his "journeyman jobs" produced by others. But it's mostly technically proficient. Easily the most distracting aspect is the cheapo synth score by Stu Goldberg, which is mildly effective during its best moments, but howlingly off the mark in some isolated scenes (like the death of an old man, which features almost circus-style scoring).