Liberty Stands Still (2002)

The wife of a gun manufacturer is held hostage by a man seeking revenge for the death of his daughter in a high school shooting incident.

Director:

Kari Skogland

Writer:

Kari Skogland

Stars:

Tanya Allen, Hart Bochner, Fulvio Cecere

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tanya Allen	...	May
Hart Bochner	...	Hank Wilford
Fulvio Cecere	...	Burt McGovern
Gregory Calpakis	...	Vince (as Greg Calpakis)
Terry Chen	...	Officer Tom
Garvin Cross	...	CIA Henchman #1
Roger R. Cross	...	Officer Miller
Martin Cummins	...	Russell Williams
Keith Dallas	...	Young Man
Linda Fiorentino	...	Liberty Wallace
Marrett Green	...	Gary P. Evans - Reporter #2
Darcy Laurie	...	Drunk Guy
David Lewis	...	Businessman
Robert Lewis	...	Fireman Frank
Brian Markinson	...	Rex Perry

Storyline

A gunman ties up an actor and locks him in his dressing room just before a performance. He also puts a bomb with a 90-minute timer next to the actor. Then, he goes to a room above an LA plaza and draws a bead on the actor's lover, international arms dealer, Liberty Wallace. Calling himself "Joe," he calls her cell phone, demonstrates that a rifle is pointed at her, and tells her to cuff herself to a hot-dog cart nearby (the cuffs are there). Over the next 90 minutes, the story unfolds: as a result of his daughter's death, he wants a public debate on the Second Amendment. As Liberty begins to bond with Joe on the phone, he gets some truths from her - and his revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

bomb | cell phone | hostage | sniper | gunman | 

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Taglines:

In the game of life and death... you only lose once.

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Genres:

Thriller | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 May 2002 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Appel au meurtre

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lions Gate Films, Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG, Pearl Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Towards the end of the film we see Liberty drop her phone and headset on the ground but in the next seen we see the headset still in her ear.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Liberty Wallace: [on phone] I'm not wearing any underwear, and you going to be able to concentrate?
Russell Williams: Not if you're aren't here.
Liberty Wallace: [laughs] I'm on my way.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Blade Trinity (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Creatures"
Performed by Carmen Rizzo
Written by Carmen Rizzo, Christina Calero, Ashley Slater and Joel Shearer
Published by Povi-Lu Music

User Reviews

Wesley does serious!!!

A film where Wesley Snipes doesn't beat anyone up or use any martial arts is a rarity in itself. In not using Snipes' best (and some would say only) asset this film gives itself quite a mountain to climb. Unfortunately it falls a great deal short of the peak and careers into a chasm.

Fiorentino is the eponymous heroine chained to a hot dog stand. Inside the stand is a bomb. Snipes has a rifle trained on her and scene is set. Cue loads of pretentious guff about the US constitution and the right to bear arms between arms dealing Liberty and grieving father Snipes.

Unfortunately there are too many scenes of dialogue between Snipes and Fiorentino. Acting is definitely not Snipes' forte and this is an acting intensive role. Their characters are never interesting and the bond that predictably develops between the two is forced. Therefore their many scenes are tiresome and irritating. Nothing quite ever happens with those on the outside and it all takes the form of one long badly given lecture on the evils of firearms.