Columbus Circle (2012)

An heiress who's been shut inside her apartment building for nearly two decades is forced to confront her fears after one of her neighbors is killed and a detective arrives to begin the investigation.

Director:

George Gallo

Writers:

George Gallo, Kevin Pollak

Stars:

Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Kevin Pollak

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Selma Blair	...	AbigailClayton
Amy Smart	...	Lillian Hart
Kevin Pollak	...	Klandermann
Jason Antoon	...	Detective Jerry Eaans
Robert Guillaume	...	Howard Miles
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Detective Frank Giardello
Beau Bridges	...	Dr. Ray Fontaine
Jason Lee	...	Charles Stanford
Samm Levine	...	Bank Manager
Jerry Penacoli	...	Jerry Penacoli
Bette Beatrice	...	Hilary Lonnigan
Mary McNeal	...	Eleanor Waters
Branden Williams	...	Real Estate Agent
Bubba Ganter	...	Doorman (as Leon Ganter)
Diane Sorrentino	...	TV Reporter

Storyline

Abigail Clayton lives alone. Very alone. In fact, the attractive heiress has not left her Manhattan loft apartment for almost two decades. The famous daughter of a wealthy industrialist, Abigail disappeared from the prying eyes of the press and the intrusiveness of her family on her 18th birthday, the day she received her massive inheritance. During years of self-imposed isolation, Abigail has had contact with only two people-her building's Concierge, Klandermann, with whom she communicates via notes-and Dr. Raymond Fontaine, a longtime family friend and her sole confidant for most of her life. When the death of her elderly neighbor prompts NYPD Homicide Detective Frank Giardello to launch an investigation, the agoraphobic Abigail is distressed to find him outside her door, asking to question her. Having tried to acquire the dead woman's now vacant apartment to ensure her privacy, Abigail is further upset when her requests go unanswered, and new tenants Lillian and Charlie move in. ...

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, some language and thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 March 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kolumbov krug

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oxymoron Entertainment, Blue Star Entertainment, G4 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First non-comedic film for Jason Lee since The Ballad of Jack and Rose.

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Goofs

On the bank's edifice near the end we see the supposed Latin motto "Viras veritas obses." Viras is not a Latin word. The filmmakers may have intended "Vis veritas obses" which translates to "Truth (is) the hostage of force."

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Quotes

[last lines]
Cab Driver: No bags?
Abigail: No baggage.
Cab Driver: So where ya going?
Abigail: Some place safe and warm.
Cab Driver: Ah, safe and warm. I always wanted to go there myself, ma'am.
Abigail: No, not ma'am. You can... you can call me Lillian.

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Soundtracks

"Something More Comfortable"
Written by Bob Hackl & Ken Stange
Performed by George Gallo and Sourcerer

User Reviews

This film is a crime for which there hasn't yet been a law passed

The storyline sounded promising.

I don't recall where it happened exactly, but with dreadfully poor films starring otherwise decent actors, it doesn't slap you in the face right away. There is sometimes a moderately long period before you realize you are not watching a good film. Then, and sometimes this takes a little while too, you realize you are not watching a mediocre film either. Sadly, unless you are a former short-bus rider, you will finally be assaulted with the fact that you are now many many minutes into a horrible movie, and because of it's competent cast, you were deceived into watching the first act, and now are committed to seeing how the rest plays out. How foul is that? Normally, with most arse-gravy films, it's obvious and up-front. In your face. Bless them for their honesty! But films like Columbus Circle, in my opinion, are the worst types of films. By the time you realize the film has soiled-the-bed, it's too late, and you must suffer through laughably wooden acting, ham-fisted writing, and ridiculously implausible situations. A line like: "I'm getting too old for this sh!t" would have felt quite natural coming out of Giovanni Ribisi's characters mouth. The writing is legitimately that bad.

They took what sounded like a potentially new take on the cop and agoraphobic scenario, and instead used tired lines, tired clichés, and forced these very capable actors into reactions/motivations which were nearly at the level of a students film. An advanced student, to be fair. But studenty nonetheless.

If you thought Giovanni Ribisi's character, acting, and lines were laughable in Avatar, just wait. The banter between his and Selma Blair's characters on their first meeting is just pathetic, and then just gets worse. Who writes like that? Well, this buffoon does.

Guess what genius, your audience isn't entirely comprised of the overwhelmingly ignorant. But apparently you either thought they were, or, you just aren't bright enough and/or a good enough writer/director to know any better? Who knows. (Gosh, Bad Boys II was sure good though, wasn't it?) I never regarded Copycat as one of my favorite films. But by comparison, it's a masterpiece. The poorly-written, poorly-acted, poorly-directed characters in this film are just that, characters. Or rather, caricatures. To say they are not "multidimensional" would be a bowel-shakingly gross understatement. They are developed REALLY poorly as well, and you don't care much for any of them.

She, him, the neighbors...it all plays out like an experiment in being as un-subtle as you can without reaching the point at which the audience wants to throw filthy diapers at the screen. How anyone can write like this and have it actually produced, says quite a bit about how things sometimes work.

"I'm just sayin, nine years on the job and it just doesn't add up" Really? I can only suspect Giovanni was cringing while reading/delivering those lines.

And pay careful attention to Selma's Oscar-worthy acting the morning after her new neighbor is forced to spend the night there. Really??? I feel dreadful for her. But do you blame HER, or this inept and out-of-touch director/writer? It's truly a dreadful film on nearly every level. Every actor, including Bridges and Pollak, seemingly did their best to give it that "phoned-in" level of craftsmanship. And I like both of them. Not in this film though. It feels like they realized how bad it was long after they were obligated, and turned in a poor performance to spite the director/writer.

This is more then a bad film, it's a statement. It's a worst-case scenario. It shows what can happen through the sheer will and tenacity of untalented people who are operating on skill alone.

They started this horrid little ball rolling, and yet no one upstairs had the common sense to stop it? Nope.

As far as bad films go, this one is a perfect storm. If it were just another honest (and transparently) horrid film, that would actually make it seem less perverse an abomination. And if it were better, then you wouldn't be reading any of this. But it's the porridge that Goldilocks chose in terms of a film that thoroughly insults the intelligence of those who are unfortunate enough to have made it through to the end.

And the feebly executed twist was a welcome sight, since it meant the suffering was almost over.

Students, learn from this. Mindless entertainment is fine. But when it pretends to be more then what it is, or is ignorant enough not to know, it crosses the line and turns into little more then a bad lie.

As my title says, this film is a crime for which there hasn't yet been a law passed. Which is a shame.