Deadlocked (2000) Reviews

• Fine little thriller.

  Boba_Fett11382006-04-05

  This is a well made, made for TV movie. Nothing too impressive but certainly good enough and enjoyable to kill some time with. The story is nothing special, although the concept, of the father of a murder suspect taking the entire jury of the trail hostage, itself is pretty good and interesting. The movies does have its moments but it has lots of missed opportunities as well. Such as the fact that the husband of the murdered wife is also among the hostages, is an highly underused story element. They could have made more out of this, such as some interesting and heated confrontations between the suspect and the husband but nothing ever happens with the husband at all. Really a missed opportunity there. But sure, the movie also has its expected flaws and it lacks in credibility at times. Still the movie and its story work effective enough to keep you watching till the end. It isn't terribly exciting and to be honest it also was quite predictable but the way the movie is constructed and the way the story is told, provides the movie with some good sequences and moments. Also the two main leads are a reason why the movie works effective enough and serves its purpose. David Caruso is a convincing leading man and Charles S. Dutton is good as the hostage taker. He portrays his character very humane and understandable. Most of the other characters aren't really interesting enough, mainly because they don't play a prominent enough role in the movie. It all in all was a better than expected, made for TV thriller with some good moments that mainly works because of the two main actors of the movie. It's a movie well worth watching if the opportunity is there but obviously by no means a must-see. 6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

• Excellent movie.

  carole2000-06-22

  Deadlocked was a fast-paced, up-to-date TV movie which gave a realistic view of our criminal justice system. David Caruso and Charles Dutton were excellent in their portrayals of this system. David Caruso, as always, gave a superb performance!

• Decent TV drama

  amire2000-07-06

  Sort of a cross between "The Negotiator" and "12 Angry Men," "Deadlocked" is a legal thriller that features an interesting premise, relevant to the current focus on the fairness of the American justice system. After his African-American son has just been convicted of the murder of a white female, a father (Charles S. Dutton) takes the jury hostage in an attempt to prove his son's innocence. With many lives at stake, the skeptical prosecutor (David Caruso) has 14 hours to re-examine the case and find evidence to exonerate the accused. Dutton and Caruso give solid performances, as does the actor who plays Dutton's convict son. SPOILER ALERT The film's biggest fault (SPOILER AHEAD) is that Caruso is able to find the evidence that incriminates the real killer in so little time. It's completely unrealistic. Still, it's more the result of trying to fit a film into a 1 hour time-slot on TNT than anything else. It shows how time constraints can really limit the potential of TV films, especially when they are aired on Cable channels that constantly interrupt the movie for commercials.

• Plot is far too weak to work and the cracks show from the get go

  bob the moo2003-11-30

  Ned Stark is the Assistant DA on a clear case of murder. On the day of sentencing the father of the accused pleads with the jury to not give his son the death sentence. When he is removed from the stand he draws a gun and takes the jury hostage. Blaming his son's poor defence for the outcome of the trial, he demands to see Stark and gives him an ultimatum – 24 hours to build a defence for his son and prove his innocence or at least a reasonable doubt. I wouldn't call myself a `fan' of Caruso, but I did like him in NYPD Blue and, since he has done the same performance in everything he's done since, I tend to watch things that he's in – which brings to this movie. I'm not a lover of courtroom thrillers with their last minute twists and shock endings, but I can get into them if they are exciting and pretty tight. However this film is anything but; built on the thinnest of plots with almost no logic to speak of it was doomed from less than 15 minutes in. An exciting and quite good final 10 minutes don't make up for anything and it isn't very good. The plot relies heavily on Demond Doyle not standing up for himself and telling his lawyer about evidence that proves his whereabouts – the reason he keeps quiet are very poorly put forward and are clumsily put down to the `black man's lot is not a happy lot'! It moves past this as quickly as possible, hoping we'll just accept it as fact and not question it. The rest of the film is daft, as Stark makes easy work of the clues that somehow no one else had time to even consider. The film also has a laughable scene that stood out so much that I much mention it. Caruso chases a suspect down alleys and over wasteland. When it is clearly Caruso himself you can see that he runs like a woman compared to the perp he is chasing! However he is replaced by a stunt double for much of the scene; a stunt double, may I add, who looks nothing like him and who's red wig is about twice the size of Caruso's own barnet! Despite this, Caruso is alright if you like him – like I said, he's doing nothing new. Dutton is stronger and hams it up well when given the chance. The support cast are all pretty much TV quality at best and they just fill the gaps really. Only Jonz stands out as the accused – he does OK despite the totally unbelievable situation surrounding his character! Overall, a poor film where the word `thriller' can only be ascribed to the final 10 minutes (and even then, only if you swallow the whole unlikely setup). Not really worth watching, the plot is just far too weak to do anything with and the cracks show from the very start.

• Better put your brain on deadlock.

  Garry-102001-09-20

  Terrible. I watched this as a non-broken by advertisement movie on UK TV. The premise is shot to pieces (POSSIBLE SPOILER) as we are expected to believe that a man has been on trial, presumably with the long period of evidence gathering that invariably precedes a trial, yet Caruso heroically turns up (blatantly obvious!) new evidence (CCTV etc.) that overturns the verdict in 14 hours, AND saves his relationship with his own kid at the same time. OK, the dramatic premise is good - poor black guy v. the system, but a bit more time and care might have turned this into something watchable.