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

Improperly worn rank insignia by the police "captain" (rank worn at odd angles). Perhaps LAPD has relaxed or arcane uniform standards, but the parallel captain's bars should either be worn "Army-style" (bars vertical) with the long edge of one bar centered along, parallel to, and 1/4" from the forward edge of the collar, or, "Navy-style" (bars diagonal) with the imaginary line between the two bars bisecting the angle of the collar's corner and lowest edge of the bars precisely 1 inch from the point of the collar.

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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

If Snipes sniped at a sniper, could the sniper snipe a Snipes?

Not in "Liberty Stands Still"; a taught drama in which Liberty (Fiorentino) is a powerful, well connected corporate type who is held hostage in public by a sniper (Snipes) secreted in a building and armed with a sniper rifle, a remote controlled bomb, a cell phone, and oodles of hi-tech gadgetry. The film is a stylish and highly improbable chess match drama in which Snipes spends much time talking with Fiorentino via cell phone as he asserts his agenda and Los Angeles gets busy trying to deal with the threat. Character development is spread over the run time and the conclusion is somewhat less than satisfying. However, the kinetics, visuals, drama, and spy stuff are sufficient to make "Liberty...." a worthwhile and interesting escapist guy-flick. (B-)

Note - Though filmed in Vancouver according to this website, the film shows frequent aerial shots of L.A.