The Consensus Review of Edison Force

I got this movie through netflix, so depending on how many movies I watched I paid between $2 to $3 for it. Let's be honest even though this was a clichéd, poorly pieced together film it was decent for a rental. It's a great looking film with Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman. Footage of those two chatting at the Kraft service table is worthy of five bucks alone. By no means is the movie worth full price admission to a theater (thus direct2dvd), nor is it even worth the $15 - $20 to own.

Justin Timberlake is indeed horrific as an actor, borderline amateurish at best. JT is a talented entertainer (his comedy chops were hilarious on SNL) but drama is not yet his forte. Having Piper Perabo round out the romantic lead duo truly put the final nail in any hopes of a theatrical release. Why she has gotten off with limited criticism is beyond me. That girl makes Timberlake look like friggin Sydney Poitier.

McDermott needed his intensity dialed back 50% by the director for a good part of the film, but I like him as an actor and give him credit for being physically able to get himself to a rather psychotic headspace (He played a better version of this character as a thug in Wonderland w/ Val Kilmer).

Freeman mailed this one in, though he made it less obvious than Spacey did.
He had a couple of good "moments" where his clichéd role seemed new (the dancing scene and a couple interactions that were humorous with Spacey). But I give him a pass on this movie. He showed up and did what he was supposed to do. The man doesn't *beep* gold bricks every time.

Spacey, as noted by other comments previously, is a good friend with the novice director of the film and did the movie as a favor to him. Wow, Kevin, is this how you treat all of your friends? I love me some good Spacey, don't get me wrong, but if your going to just show up when you're not shooting
something else (clearly the case here) just tell your friend to use someone else. Aside from a couple of interplays with Freeman that were mildly amusing he seemed to be completely uninterested as an actor. I don't know if we were supposed to think the investigator he played was on paxil or just ready for an early retirement.

LL did some of his best acting to date, admittedly that does not set the bar too high. The role again was obvious, almost a caricature of the "cop with a
conscience." He did his best with what was in front of him and looked damn good doing it (the man is ripped). The fight scene w/ McDermott was the most impressive spot of the film in my opinion. Gritty, spontaneous and volatile.

Ultimately the blame/credit mostly falls on the shoulder of the writer/director David Burke. I was intrigued by the plot when I thought the film was going to be about a group of vigilante whackos (dressed like futuristic military troops) were holding the city hostage as a means to take down the corrupt city officials and swat team. I loved the look and feel of the scene where Lazerov pathologically stalks the hostage taker and needlessly shoots the girl in the shoulder. Truly a "WTF" moment. After that though, the script and direction of the movie in general became a series of inevitable scenes that could be easily predicted. The Edison Foundation and the
corporate malfeasance seemed to play an integral part of the movies pivotal message but Elwes character was a side-note, only hinted at briefly as a plot device for the journalists and investigators to catch.

Not good, not horrible but slightly below average overall.