Former police psychologist Rob helps to save young Chrissy when she is about to commit suicide by jumping of 21st-story balcony with her 4-year-old son Jake. When he persuades her to go on ...
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Cast
| Credited cast: | |||
| Paul McGann | ... | Rob | |
| Susan Lynch | ... | Chrissy | |
 |
Tom Georgeson | ... | Jimmy |
|
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David Roper | ... | Mike |
|
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Denise Bryson | ... | Jan |
|
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Adam Johnston | ... | Jake |
|
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David Horsefield | ... | Kevin |
| Stephen Graham | ... | Jacko | |
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Birdy Sweeney | ... | Pat |
|
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Paul Johnson | ... | Marcus |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
|
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Neil Armstrong | ... | Jones |
| Hywel Berry | ... | Paul | |
|
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David Case | ... | Sam |
| Craig Conway | ... | Hammy | |
|
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Daniel Lake | ... | Johnny |
Edit
Plot Summary
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Storyline
Former police psychologist Rob helps to save young Chrissy when she is about to commit suicide by jumping of 21st-story balcony with her 4-year-old son Jake. When he persuades her to go on a date, they are trapped with Jake and old Pat in an elevator because a drunken gang crashed into the elevator's engine room. Written by Anonymous
Plot Keywords:
police psychologist | youth gang | mother son relationship | little boy | independent film |Taglines:
Next time, take the stairsCertificate:
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See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
13 February 1998 (UK) See more »Also Known As:
Miedzy zyciem a smiercia See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby DigitalColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The film was set in a tower block in Newcastle upon Tyne and was scheduled to be filmed there but a finance deal and full assistance caused the unit to move filming to Liverpool. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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Downtime is not for anyone who is afraid of lifts. The claustrophobic atmosphere in this film is the best thing about it. In fact, I've used lifts all my life without giving them a second thought, but even I found myself taking the stairs for a month or two after watching this.
The story features an educated police negotiator and a foul-mouthed working class mother on the brink of suicide. They have virtually nothing in common, but one evening they find themselves trapped in an elevator. To complicate matters further, some troublesome kids start a fire in the same tower block which rapidly gets out of control.
There is an unconvincing love element to the story which makes parts of it hard to swallow. However, I was prepared to forgive the film for this unlikely plot development because as mentioned before the closed-in atmosphere is brilliantly captured. However, near the end the film does something truly unforgivable. For no reason at all, it suddenly brings in a half-hearted revenge subplot which belongs in another movie and uses it to end a film which has already reached a satisfying conclusion. The sheer stupidity of having a film set almost entirely in a lift suddenly switch location to a hospital room, with an angry father waving a rifle around, utterly undermines the good work that has gone before. Such a shame! Surely the two protagonists should have escaped from the lift and that should have been that.
Worth seeing, then, but it's best if you switch it off about ten minutes from the end.