Doomsday Man (1999)

Director:

William R. Greenblatt

Writer:

Andrew Stein (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

After his wife is killed researching a deadly virus, a doctor, out of anger and guilt, infects himself with the virus and threatens the world.

Cast

Esai Morales	...	Mike
James Marshall	...	Tom
Yancy Butler	...	Kate
Renee Allman	...	Jill (as Rene Allman)
Kerry Thornton	...	Laura
Randell Haynes	...	Lyons
Jill Galloway	...	Melissa / T. Wingate Andrews High School Cheerleader
Barry Bell	...	Prentiss
Todd Sandler	...	Carter
Rhoda Griffis	...	Mrs. Gloria Prentiss
Roy Lind	...	Dr. Reinhardt
Gina Stewart	...	Dolores
Michael Ruff	...	Bus Boy
Benjamin Klein	...	High School Boy (as Ben Klein)
David Lenthall	...	Dix (as David Lenthail)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Germany:12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

High Point, North Carolina, USA

Trivia:

The cheerleaders featured in the cast are real-life cheerleaders and athletes.

It has much promise...

But it ultimately fails to deliver.

(There are some very small spoilers in this paragraph; I'm just summarizing the rising action of the film) The film is about a group of colleagues who work for the US government in viral containment (the beginning reminded me a little of a failed attempt to mimic the film "Outbreak"). One of them decides to steal a deadly virus (for reasons seen as the storyline progresses) and threatens the world when he infects himself (this motive is also explained, but not believable). The story is not told completely linear, so many clues are given here and there and MOST of them add up in the end.

This is a difficult review to write, because with a lot of the trash that seems to move around the television today, this film seems like a treasure on the surface, but the cards just don't stack up in the end. The viewer finds the characters confusing and their motives and attitudes seem to mix and match. The stereotypical US Solider, played by Yancy Butler, seems as if she wants to develop her character, but doesn't really. The two best-friend-brother doctors (Morales and Marshall) don't really further their relationship as the one brother's life seems to fall. In addition, references are made that seem as if the story is going to go in one direction, but it never does. Some scenes and the inclusive dialogue are long, drawn out and get boring quickly.

Perhaps worst of all, the viewer is left really bummed down...okay maybe the film had to end this way in order to get "the point" across, but "the point" is broad and vague, and the viewer is still so frustrated with the characters lack of development and overly done dialogue that the point is now pointless.

I can go on and on, but, from my point of view, the script seems to take a good story and just not deliver all that it offers. The cinematography is pretty good, some movements repeat themselves and others don't mix with the action of the actors. The acting is really well-done and if the actors had a better script this could have been a well-made movie. It appears the director tried really hard to make a promising film, but the script was just too weak. Stein had a good story, he should have just had a better screenwriter write the script for him, and Greenblatt should have really looked to cover the holes left open in the story. The film was completely independent, and they tried hard to deliver on the budget they had, but certain elements don't seem believable enough because of the lack-of-funds, but I'm not criticizing because of that, they at least get a good point for the tireless effort.

I try to find a crowd to which I could recommend this, but I can't. The story has good elements, so I can't say that it's utter garbage, but, like I said, it just doesn't deliver. I cannot recommend this film to anyone, sorry...

4/10