Carjacked (2011) DVD Review

DVD Review of the hijacking thrilled Carjacked starring Maria Bello & Stephen Dorff


Image courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment

Dir: John Bonito (The Marine)
Cast: Maria Bello, Stephen Dorff, Catherine Dent, Connor Hill, Gary Grubbs, Tim Griffin, Angelle Brooks, Christopher Bello, Joamna Cassidy
USA, 2011 (DVD Release)

Reason to see: The cast: Maria Bello & Stephen Dorff are a yes and a yes for me to see

Carjacked follows a Lorraine (Maria Bello of Beautiful Boy, A History of Violence), a woman who is doing her best as a single mom to her son (played by Connor Hill) when a regular night of theirs is turned into turmoil as a bank robber jacks their car (Stephen Dorff of Somewhere, Immortals) overtaking their quiet evening plans and shaking up their lives.

Although the film certain rides the wave of abduction/thriller format, I was actually quite taken by the characters from Lorraine's complacent nature being challenged on all sides (who knew being agreeable was such a faux pas?) to the hard-to-read charismatic criminal of Roy. Both Maria Bello and Stephen Dorff have very strong performances here, bringing to life interesting, emotional journeys of their characters separately as well and the unique complexity of their interaction in such an unusual situation. It's cool to see the different power dynamics and tactics used from overt to more subtle social skills to gain or lose control in this confined space yet always moving thriller.

Carjacked has its fair share of action and drama plus a healthy dose of vengeance, I think fans of female protagonist films will get a kick out of Carjacked and as always it's a pleasure to watch Maria Bello at work and she does an impressive job here as the complacent Mom doing the best to provide for her young son, even amidst the craziness of being Carjacked.

DVD Extras:

• Carjacked Behind-the-Scenes (3 minutes) behind the scenes footage of the actors, filming, locations, effects (explosion & gun), side-by-side shooting & playback all to music.

Carjacked is available on DVD as of November 22, 2011. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'd watch it again
I'd recommend it to fans of emotionally-driven thrillers

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© Shannon Ridler, 2011