While She Was Out (2008)

A woman out late for Christmas Eve shopping is soon terrorized by a small gang of troublemakers, and she must fight for her life.

Director:

Susan Montford

Writers:

Edward Bryant (short story), Susan Montford

Stars:

Kim Basinger, Lukas Haas, Craig Sheffer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kim Basinger	...	Della
Lukas Haas	...	Chuckie
Craig Sheffer	...	Kenneth
Jamie Starr	...	Huey
Leonard Wu	...	Vingh
Luis Chávez	...	Tomas (as Luis Chavez)
Luke Gair	...	Terry
Erika-Shaye Gair	...	Tammi
Wayne Bernard	...	Angry Driver
Ari Solomon	...	Rent A Cop
Sadie Lawrence	...	Perfume Sales Lady
Alana Husband	...	Lingerie Sales Assistant
Katie Messina	...	Coffee Sales Person
Rachel Hayward	...	Lynn
Lossen Chambers	...	Pharmacy Sales Assistant

Storyline

Della Myers is an overwhelmed upper-middle-class housewife who lives in a large house in the suburbs with her twin children and her abusive husband, Kenneth. Kenneth lets Della know that he thinks she gives all her attention to the twins and neglects her house and her appearance. Late on Christmas Eve, Della drives to the local mall to buy gift-wrap. While searching for a parking space in the jam-packed lot, Della notices an old car taking up two spaces. Frustrated and annoyed, she decides to leave a paper message on the windshield of the old car, writing, "Hey, Jerk. Two parking spaces. How selfish can you be?" After the mall closes, Della's car is held by the driver of the old car and she is threatened by four punks -- Chuckie, Huey, Vingh, and Tomás. When the security guard of the mall attempts to protect Della, he is shot and killed by Chuckie. Della tries to escape from the criminals in her truck, but the gang chases her. In the chase, she crashes in a nearby forest. What unfolds...

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Plot Keywords:

falling downhill | mall | twin | suburb | woods | 

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Taglines:

They Messed With the Wrong Woman on the Wrong Night

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Country:

USA Canada Germany

Language:

English Spanish Chinese

Release Date:

26 March 2009 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Mientras estás fuera

Filming Locations:

Glenlyon Parkway, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Insight Film Studios, Angry Films, Victoria Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 108 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Version of this story was filmed as a segment of the anthology series The Hidden Room starring Stephanie Zimbalist as Della.

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Connections

References Hawaii Five-O (1968)

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Soundtracks

Oh Come All Ye Faithful
Lyrics by Frederick Oakeley (uncredited) and music by John Reading (uncredited)
[Incorrectly credited as Traditional]
Arranged by John Horler
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

User Reviews

I Rather Liked It

To be sure there's nothing particularly original in this. It's a fairly standard chase movie as a woman is chased through the night by a gang of thugs out to kill her in revenge for her having left a nasty note on their car when they double parked in a busy parking lot on Christmas Eve. So, yeah, it's a variation on a pretty standard theme. There are no real "surprises." You know the woman is going to survive somehow, and in all honesty I thought there was a fair bit of tension and suspense through the whole thing. It's a bit unbelievable, sure - but that's the nature of this kind of movie. Unoriginal, yeah - but anyone who reads the description of the movie going in has to know it's going to be unoriginal so don't watch it if you want something brand spanking new. I liked the basic story from the point at which Della began to be pursued to the point at which she escaped. I thought it was well done.

The movie was helped by having a better than usual lead. Kim Basinger played Della and did well with the part. So many of these movies feature a complete cast that you've never seen before and that you'll never see again that it's kind of nice to see a familiar face. Ironically, perhaps the weakest part of the movie was also Della, though - not Basinger's performance but the character's background. From the opening scenes of the movie Della is portrayed as a victim of an abusive husband, apparently trapped in this unhappy marriage. That really served little purpose and had few connecting points to the remainder of the movie except to allow for a "shocker" in the very last scene, which, again, wasn't necessary to the story.

Go into this with your eyes wide open. If you like this type of movie then this is certainly on par with (and maybe even a bit better than) most "chase" movies you'll come across. But if you're looking for originality, forget it. It all depends what you're expecting from it. Personally, I rather liked it. (7/10)