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Visitors Review

beau geste 38 2012-05-25 02:33:58

Brody is brilliant

I nearly gave this a miss because of its inane title, poor reviews, andunknown (to me anyway) actors and Director. Thank god I didn't.(Brody wasBrilliant). This wasn't a "buried alive movie". The lack of Oxygenaspectwas a sub plot to what was happening between Tierney and Brody, TierneyandKinney, and Tierney and her... Friend??? Until reading other userscommentsI didn't realise it was a "small town production". In the hands of theSilence of the Lambs crew this would have been a big psycho thriller. Morewould have been made of the "Alone" interview, which could have been aprecursor to a much more masochistic violent ending. This film was a fewrewrites short of being a very good film. If it had been made in thefifties we would be calling it a classic.

Michael Dequina 2012-05-24 19:17:06

Tierney definitely has what it takes to carry a film; it's unfortunate that this vehicle doesn't give her much of substance to carry.

sfear 2012-05-22 02:56:28

good script, bad production

this movie had some excellent writing, the sort of thing david fincherwouldhave made into a great movie i would probably add to my video collection,but it was given to a mediocre director who needs to work, hard, onatmosphere. even just a tint to the film may have been enough. the actingwas all right, some good, some not-so-good, but the writing itself wasfantastic. it doesn't have a specifically interesting ending, nothing thatshocks you or makes you remember it, so that could have been worked on,butall-in-all, for lovers of movies such as se7en, it's definitely worthseeing.

rotatingredralph 2012-05-21 22:29:36

WOW! Amazing movie!!

What a great film! i cant believe that it wasn't released in the cinemaas the whole story is brought to life by the amazing acting of MauraTierney and Adrien Brody. If it wasn't for the talent of these twoactors the story would have fallen flat. Tierney is truly believable asa struggling cop, and Brody is just so smug as the kidnapper, that thewhole film is unpredictable. I saw this film on TV and i couldn't takemy eyes off it, completely riveting throughout and you really feel likeyou know the characters. Despite good performances by other members ofthe cast, its the two leads that make the movie. An excellent film icompletely recommend.10 out of 10!! Excellent!!!

Ruthanne23 2012-05-18 05:33:27

Curiosity pays!

I only watched this movie because of Adrien Brody and Moira Tierney of ERfame. Adrien Brody literally stole this movie with his chilling andriveting portrayal of a kidnapper. I never expected this caliber ofactingin what I consider a B-grade movie. I can now look forward to seeing himinTHE PIANIST...he is awesome.

2012-05-17 11:38:55

Pretty good drama with a pat ending

"Oxygen" is a crime drama starring Maura Tierney (of NBC's "NewsRadio") as a cop with a troubled personal life investigating a kidnapping. Adrien Brody plays the kidnapper three years before he burst forth as "The Pianist".The plot follows Tierney's flawed personal decision-making processes and her involvement with the kidnapping investigation, where she forms a bizarre bond with the criminal played by Brody.This is a cliche-ridden but absorbing crime drama featuring the two charismatic leads and a host of faces familiar from other movies. Brody's psychological portrait of the bad guy is probably the signature characterization in the film although most men (this is a "guy" movie, after all) will be riveted to Tierney, whose one dimensional role is simultaneously pathetic, sexy, vulnerable, and attractive.There is one wonderful scene very early in the flick -- that is stylistically ripped off from "The French Connection" -- where the female lead chases a bad guy under a train in live camera action. Don't miss this good early feature!This movie entertained me all the way through until that silly contrived ending, where a bunch of things happen that are so incredible as to be just plain dumb. Check out Brody in "Love The Hard Way", another movie he made where he plays a less than flavorful character.

2012-05-15 23:35:23

COMPELLING PSYCHODRAMA MAKES FOR AN ENGAGING THRILLER

I of course expected little from this small budget movie with unknown actors (including Brody, at that pre-Pianist time). Given these parameters, this is a very engaging thriller. Very effectively creepy. The psycopath theme is occasionally so disturbing that it's hard to watch in places. But what frightens even more is the horrifying glimpse we get into the mind of a killer. Brody offers us a frighteningly friendly and calm, hypnotically conniving psychopath, and Maura Tierney is very credible as a woman so self-destructive and full of self-hatred that in one disquieting scene she can barely look at herself in a mirror.Definitely worth seeking out.

2012-05-15 17:00:23

Great Flick!!

If you are a crime/cop buff addict this is the film for you, great acting and decent plot...Recommend this film highly

steve-556 2012-05-12 23:37:36

Good beginning...

What could be more horrifying than being buried alive? From that startingpoint, Oxygen lurches forth into fairly predictable and boring terrain.While the acting overall is quite good, the psychological interplaybetweenthe central antagonists fails to draw you in. To paraphrase the script,onetires of the "psych 101", had-a-few-too-many-bong-hits-in-the-frat-housestyle platitudes. I mean like wow, dude, it's really not all that deep inthe end.Visually this film is magnificent. The soft and glowing, yet intensecinematography is a nice counterpoint to the dark subjectmatter.

Stephen Stone 2012-05-12 05:45:31

Breath taking suspense!

If you are interested in being an independent filmmaker, this is a movietosee. The movie as a whole, from the unusual abduction to the plight ofthesadistically minded heroine fighting the kidnapper and herself, brings avision to the screen that holds both a humorous and twisted tone. Don'tbesurprised to feel awkward, frustrated, terrorized, and satisfiedsimultaneously when you catch this one.Cheers!

Tangerini 2012-05-11 08:04:29

Good, but not fabulous

I ordered this movie from amazon.com and wasn't disappointed. It isn'twonderful, but it's thoroughly entertaining, pretty scary, and AdrianBrody's character was fascinating. He and Maura Tierney both did excellentjobs in this film, although Maura Tierney's character was slightly lessdeveloped. The plot is well crafted and the movie is engaging. I recommendthis movie.

2012-05-10 20:17:09

fallin with fear

i saw this movie by mistake one day and thought it was just another cop show series...until i focused on actor adrien brody. i thought this guy was some insane talent to be doing a crappy show and not be famous yet because his skill as an actor gets you so involved within the plot it doesn't even matter if you don't see the whole thing from the begining.his characters power over the enire police force and his victims is so so....sneaky and allurring that he becomes almost lovable and in a very sexual way that you don't even want him to get caught. i thought the movie was well scripted and someone did a fantastic job casting the film and would love to see it again

Steven Rosburg 2012-05-06 00:20:59

I liked it

I think this is a pretty good movie. Basically, Maura Tierney plays adetective who has some very big personal problems to deal with and getssucked into a kidnapping case only to become the last hope the victim has.I especially like the way Maura is cast as the leading role. Refreshingly,she is a real woman with very real problems. Most people probably cannotrelate with the specific issues she has to deal with, but the one thing Iwas left with when the movie was over was that she was 100% believable.She's not some kind of "super" human like every other star in a good-guyvs.bad-guy movie. She's just a smart detective who manages to stayalive.

marshmallow_pies 2012-05-05 04:45:48

Interesting concept, poor script.

This is not a good movie, but is compelling enough to sit through. There aretwo reasons for this:1) Adrien Brody is absolutely brilliant. I have nothing bad to say on hispart.2) The idea was interesting. Quite frankly, if the film was a cinemarelease, and had a bigger budget, it would have been a worthwhile thriller.But it didn't. I would recommend this for any Brody fans. This is probably the mostinteresting role he has ever played, and he does it well. He just shouldn'tbe an evil freak, but there you have it! He is! And it was impossible for meto hate him because he is so amazing to watch. However, stay away if you are one who tends to try and make sense of aB-grader. For you will end up confused and irritated. The rest of the castwas pretty shocking, and they should stick to TV. Amusing enough for a lazy rainy day.

Alan Jacobs 2012-05-02 11:05:24

Run of the mill, but I love Adrien Brody

Nowhere near as horrific as it should've been. They deal here with aprimalfear: being buried alive. But the film has no tension, no scares.Despitethat, I could watch Adrien Brody all day. I'd love to see him, with hisoff-beat good looks, in a lead role. Maybe a buddy picture with SteveBuscemi.

2012-05-01 22:35:25

Dark And Suffocating...

Imagine being buried alive w/ a flashlight and only a 24hr supply of air to breathe. That's what Harry (Adrien Brody) does to his victim in order to extort one million dollars from her wealthy husband. A tough cop w/ something to hide (Maura Tierney), is called upon to get Harry to confess before his captive expires. Like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, OXYGEN's strength lies in it's dialogue between Tierney and Brody (think Starling and Lecter). These two build a bizarre relationship that threatens the investigation. Harry is evil, yet intriguing and insightful. He probes the cop's mind and zeros in on her most sensitive secret. Of course, this is all taking place while some poor woman suffocates underground! Great characters and some nice twists make OXYGEN an enjoyable thriller...

Dave Bailey 2012-05-01 17:08:41

Hideous

Oxygen has just been shown on TV here in the UK (5th Dec 2002), and Ican'tbelieve I've allowed myself to waste nearly 2 hours of my life on it.Rightfrom the incredibly unrealistic car chase (surely, the sensible thing todowould be to use some kind of tracking device in the money, or follow fromadistance, and then arrest him after he has revealed the location like hesaid he would) to the usual formulaic ending I was reaching for the TVguideevery advert break.a terrible, awful, travesty of a film

Ed Uthman 2012-04-30 22:46:20

Excellent, intelligent film

In OXYGEN, Richard Shepard has refined his approach to character-drivencrime thrillers first seen in his previous, also excellent film, MERCY.Armed with experience and a bigger budget, Shepard has wrestedoutstanding performances from Maura Tierney and Adrien Brody, in theirbest work to date. Both characters are quite believable, and theirdefects are gently extracted and displayed by the subtle script. Thereare no stereotypes or one-dimensional characters in the whole film.This is not to say that this is some esoteric, art-house movie, suitableonly for clove-smoking turtleneck-wearers. The action scenes arewell-executed and edited. Camera work is very nice; the long Steadicamshot in the train is especially memorable. Tension holds on throughout,and even the asides (such as an FBI agent's humorous soliloquy about thedeath penalty) integrate well and don't distract.I sure would like to see what Richard Shepard could do if given someReally Big Bucks.

only_oxygen 2012-04-27 09:04:49

Great actors, great atmosphere

That's the kind of movie you watch without too high expectations andthen it totally blows you away, and you can't turn it off, and at theend you wish you could know what's going to happen now. The story isnot really Award-worthy - young, brilliant criminal buries the wife ofa rich man to get some money, and then he gets interrogated by a femalecop. But the actors are just great - Adrien Brody shows his evil faceand you got really scared of him, and Maura Tierney... We know that shecan play, we saw it a thousand times at ER, but the role of thedepressive, drinking cop seems to fit her absolutely perfect. You justhave to watch her throwing her life away, getting pulled in thatturmoil of herself deeper with every minute. You want to save her, butyou know, even if you had the possibility to get to know her in reallife, you couldn't, because in a sick way it fascinates you to justwatch. And the chemistry between her and Brody is amazing - after thefirst meeting of both you are not able to turn this movie out. I lovedit, it's my favorite movie, and whoever appreciates the talent of MauraTierney, you will love it too...

2012-04-26 20:25:42

Wish it was a book!

Your typical serial killer flick. If you enjoy serial killers you will enjoy this movie. The movie is average, but the serial killer is a bit like Houdini. He escapes by odd and creepy methods. He will surprise you. This killer also likes to play vebal head games with cops. Particularly Maura Tierney. Her character really interested me. A woman cop married to the chief. She has an alcahol problem as well as some sexual issues and self injury secrets. The movie was good, but I would love to read the novel for more depth of the characters.