Detonator (2003)

A former FBI agent must stop a madman from setting off a bomb.

Director:

Jonathan Freedman

Writer:

Herschel Wahlkoch

Stars:

Randall Batinkoff, Elizabeth Berkley, Stan Shaw

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Randall Batinkoff	...	Beau Stoddard
Elizabeth Berkley	...	Jane Dreyer
Stan Shaw	...	Robert Brickland
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Jack Forrester
Denis Forest	...	Steve Kerwin
John Pleshette	...	Stuart Newman
Peter Jason	...	U.S. Attorney Fred Goldenberg
Terri J. Vaughn	...	Sharona Brown
Cheselka Leigh	...	Candi
Will Stewart	...	Van Wilson (as Will Foster Stewart)
Tom Virtue	...	Fred Bizzert
Patrick Bristow	...	DeJuan Michaels
Tommy De La Cruz	...	Kid
Gregory Scott Cummins	...	James Grimes
Diannah Bays	...	Diana - reporter

Storyline

When a bomb, delivered to a law firm's skyscraper office, kills 15 night crew and senior partner Anne Harrington, irreverent postal inspector Beau Stoddard competently traces it. Officially he's just FBI liaison. Nominee director of Domestic Security Robert Brickland, Beau's hated ex-boss at bomb squad and FBI, grudgingly lets him collaborate with ex-partner Jane Dreyer. Soon after U.S. Attorney Fred Goldenberg is also bombed. Anonymous letters suggests the link is drug hood James Grimes, but he maintains his innocence while dying in a bloody arrest. Beau pushes on, fearing a dirtier plot.

---

Plot Keywords:

fbi | bomb | handcuffs | face slap | false identity | 

---

Taglines:

He'll blow you away.

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller | Action

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 2005 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Write-Off

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Center Studios - 450 S. Bixel Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CO 1. Filmproduktions KG, Cinetel Films, Media Entertainment GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Denis Forest, who played a pivotal role, died during the production of this film. He had already filmed his scenes. The production people wanted to dedicate the film to his memory.

---

Quotes

Jane Dreyer: [about building explosion] LAPD says there's an eye witness?
Jack Forrester: I'm gonna go back in the building now, where it's safe.

---

Crazy Credits

In memory of Denis Forest (1960 - 2002)

User Reviews

A nice surprise!

I rented "Detonator" without any kind of expectation. I simply wanted to see Elizabeth Berkley's new film. Considering it's a straight-to-video (well, straight-to-DVD...), I was thinking it wasn't nothing great. A kind of TV action flick. But I was really wrong: it ended up to be more than I was expecting. First of all, it's hard to understand it's a low budget film: the technical credits are really excellent, including the visual effects. The opening scene (with the Valentine's box) is suspenceful and very well done. Director Jonathan Freedman did a really good job on this film. The action scenes (like that one with the big shooting at the bad guys' home) are great and there is a nice work on the characters' development.

The actors are all brilliant: Randall Batinkoff has made a very good job playing the postal inspector Beau Stoddard. He deserve starring roles like this one (I only remember her cameo appearance as Helen Hunt's boyfriend in "As Good As It Gets"). Elizabeth Berkley was a pleasant surprise on her first action film, playing FBI agent Jane Dreyer. Very believable. All the cast has done a fine job, including Will Foster Steward, whose Van Wilson gives a - brief - comic relief to the story. The screenplay is often a lot better than others big budget action flicks: there is an interesting plot and the film is not a purely mess of pirotechnic effects, explosions, car races and bi-dimensional characters. I only hated the last scenes with Elizabeth Berkley and Randall Batinkoff... it's really pathetic. What happened to the writers or the director? Where that scene came from? However, it's just a 3-seconds shot and that's not terribly bad. It's totally unreasonable, but you can laugh a lot of how useless it is, put that way. "Detonator" is a really good low budget action flick that deserves the audience attention. Elizabeth Berkley once said she would love to star in an action film: well, she choose a really nice one.