Genres

Visitors Review

jackrabbitslims-1 2012-05-21 01:36:08

tries to hard to be cool

like those dumb kids in high school who try to make friends with everyoneand always carry gum and smell funny, this movie tries to hard to attracteveryone's interest. It's a weak screenplay with some pretty goodcinematography, but it loses it's audience's interest earlyon.

cafesmitty 2012-05-20 11:19:49

Good Story that caught me off guard

Reviewer: Edward M. Smith from Glen Burnie, md United StatesI knew absolutely nothing about this story before seeing the movie. The filmbegan and when it said that it was based off true events, I almost turned itoff. What caught my attention was the visual portrayer of the arsoninvestigation... after that it was the story and the performances of theactors themselves. Ray Liotta stars as arson investigator John Orr. He,along with John Leguizamo, are trying to figure out who is starting allthese arson-based fires. John Orr is well regarded as the chief arsoninspector and if anyone can find out, he can. So the film plays out like acat and mouse game. You are trying to figure out what is motivating theperson who is setting these fires. What makes the story a bit morecompelling is that, during the 90's, at least three firefighters werearrested for arson. After watching the DVD, I found myself going over thefilm again. I figured, since it was based on a true story the DVD would havesome interesting extras. I was disappointed, therefore could not give it a5. Nevertheless I did find the story fascinating.

blackcoffeemusic 2012-05-18 09:41:13

Very different....(in a good way)

Very unique! I liked the idea of the main charachter writing a book aboutthe true events. Obviously he was slightly PSHYCO....(Ray Liotta was ofcourse awesome in this part) It held my interest to the very end. The twoyoung actors that played his daughter and her boyfriend were very good.Oneof HBO's better flicks.

MaximillianSanders 2012-05-17 12:50:44

Interesting

Fairly diverting procedural based on a real arson investigation. A terriblescore and some awfully strange direction that doesn't really suit the storyis kept from ruining the film by a compelling performance by Ray Liotta. Averitable cornicopia of actors who should be more famous than they are, italso features John Leguizamo and Cliff Curtis. Don't adjust your schedule to see it, but if its ever on, give it ac

2012-05-12 22:33:16

Point of Origin DVD

I thought the DVD "Point of Origin" was great!!LScott

sddavis63 2012-05-12 00:29:25

A Disappointment

Given the high quality of work in both movies and series that HBO usuallyachieves, I found "Point Of Origin" to be a significant disappointment, witha plot that didn't seem to flow well and what I thought were some poordirectorial decisions (particularly the strange way in which the firesequences were filmed - the sudden jump into high speed action, with shotsof traffic and flames.) All that made it difficult to really empathize withthe most sympathetic victims of the fires (the child at the beginning of themovie, and the young woman confined in her bathroom while the flamesspread.Ray Liotta put on a decent performance as Glendale arson investigator JamesOrr, in this true story of the hunt for an arsonist in the Los Angeles area.Orr ends up becoming the prime suspect in the fires, much to the dismay ofhis former partner (played by Trent Gill), based largely on the discovery ofa "fictional" novel he wrote based on the fires (of course, the questionbecomes whether the book is based on the fires, or whether the fires arebased on the book.) Orr is an entirely unsympathetic character, having anaffair while still protesting that he loves his wife, expecting both womento stand with him, ignoring his daughters (and coming across as veryauthoritarian when he's not ignoring them.)There just wasn't very much in this movie that I found appealing, althoughit provided a glimpse into the methods used to investigate arson. Frankly,though, I wouldn't recommend it especially highly.3/10.

Bobo 2012-05-10 22:53:26

A high school film project

escapes onto the big screen. What a large amount of trash this thing is. What started as a mildly interesting film quickly turns into a self indulgent piece of crap. I love Ray Liotta but hate this.

MillandFan 2012-05-10 10:48:09

I expected more

This film seemed to have rushed to make it's point (who was setting thefires), then dragged on painfully until the end. There was, however, somereally good non-reality, or thought scenes that were interesting, untilthe"Crouching-Tiger, Hidden Dragon" moves were thrown in, and those werecompletely unnecessary.I love Ray Liotta. I collect his films, and I have to say that this is onethat goes in the collection for the collection's sake. I'll probably notwatch it again.

2012-05-07 02:08:39

Great Movie unexpected

This review is from: Point of Origin (DVD) I really enjoy the movie, I would also recommend buying if available the book and watching the documentary's (There are at least two of them but I could only find one on video.) This is a profound period in criminal justice and should not be forgotten as it will change criminal investigations forever.

Lucien Lessard 2012-05-07 01:26:16

Stlyzed entertaining thriller that is based on a real incident.

John Orr (Ray Liotta) is a veteran arson investigator, who's completelyprofessional at his job and he has an sixth sense for placing theorigin of suspecting fires. His loyal partner Keith Lang (JohnLeguizamo) learns from the best from Orr and Lang has joined the taskforce in the search of the killer. But some of Orr's colleagues andothers thinks that Orr knows too much of these crimes... all too-well.To his friends, family members and colleagues that Orr might be thearsonist.Directed by Newton Thomas Sigel made an terrific, fast paced thrillerthat is based loosely on a true story. Liotta and Leguizamo givesstrong performances in their roles. This movie has an top supportingcast like Colm Feore, Cliff Curtis, Bai Ling, Illeana Douglas, RonnyCox, Sophia Bush and Rachel Bilson. This movie was made for TV at HBOFilms. Sigel's picture is very stylized and it looks like an theatricalmovie as well.DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer and an strongDolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD also includes an fairlyinteresting running commentary track by the director and cast & crewinformation. Sigel's film is very entertaining.... he keeps everythingtight, over the top and short. Certainly worth seeing. (****/*****).

George Parker 2012-05-05 07:29:44

Fire cop or fire bug?

"Point of Origin" takes the viewer into the life of a workaholic top LosAngeles arson investigator (Liotta) who is married with children, havingsome extracurricular activity on the side, writing a book, andinvestigating a serial arson case. Jeesh, talk about burning the candle atboth ends! On the upside, this HBO product has a promising plot with sometwisty-turny stuff. However, pinched at the end, fraught with plot holes,and cluttered with surreal visual effects, "Point of Origin" is likely toignite little interest beyond that of the wayward channel surfer.

Erewhon 2012-05-04 12:29:04

A seriously missed opportunity

This confused and confusing movie tries to be based both on the real case ofthe worst serial arsonist in California history, and on a book by John Orr,a former arson investigator for the city of Glendale. The script is clumsy and ill-formed, and plays a foolish trick on theaudience regarding two of the characters, the arsonist and John Orr. Nothing is gained by this particular trick; in fact, a great deal ofpossible audience involvement is completely sacrificed. The real case is depicted with some accuracy, but also some pointlessfiction is inserted, and a potentially fascinating story is badlyundercut. The director is ordinarily a superlative cinematographer, and there's somegood cinematography here, too. But there's also a great deal of sillycamera trickery -- there's even a shot looking upward at two people (one avery minor character) from >under the foot< of one of them. The firescenes are deeply unconvincing, and needn't have been. One odd touch: two of the real-life arson investigators are depicted in thefilm, and one of them plays the OTHER one. And the other one also appears. Very complex and almost funny.

2012-05-02 13:09:13

fire bad

mesmerizing and great. I fell for this movie because the story was interesting, people, arsonists, setting fires and Liotta and Leguizamo have to find out who is doing this. from start to finish its grand and well directed. for fans of the 2 stars or who like fire movies. based on actual events

The Ebullient One 2012-05-02 03:44:08

Acting talent and f/x in search of plot, inquire inside.

*************SPOILER WARNING***********************By far the most interesting thing about "Point of Origin" was the specialeffects, that had characters coming out of a page of typewritten paper, orshowed a time lapse of a somber Ray Liotta looking over a fire whileeverything else around him moves at hyper speed. This kind of imagery seemsa better application of computer graphics than outer space effects, as youdon't *know* they are computer generated. The fluid changing of scenes andvenues could have added greatly to the story, if there had been one to beginwith.Ray Liotta plays John Orr, a Walter Mitty style arson investigator, who weeventually learn lives in a fantasy world where he is the hero and saveseveryone, and writes about it in a book. However, the complete nature ofhis life isn't revealed until one big flash near the end, although theshootout episode was almost comic in approach and adds some distraction tothe dullness.We're led to believe for three quarters of the movie that an arsonist issetting the fires, someone with bright red hair and a very ugly face. Awitness describes such a man to John and his partner, the police sketchesshow the same person, and we see this man committing crimes. John believeshe's being set up and the person doing the fires knows him. Yet at the endwe find John is setting all the fires, living out the book he is writing. So what gives--why did people *see* this man instead of John? Was the redhaired man an alter ego, a personality John isn't aware of? Was John acrafty liar and wore a wig and goatee? Or was the red haired man a poordevice to make a plot, and summarily dismissed without explanation? This,and whether John was a serious criminal or delusional, was never fullyexplained, and makes much of the movie come across as time filler. Had itbeen done with a more serious approach to the plot it could have been verypowerful, but is instead so weak it barely makes an impression.

Mark Heiliger 2012-04-25 04:52:44

Hard to believe it was THAT good

At first glance it's just a movie of the week. It's true that it was oneofHBO's original movies, but to call it a movie of the week would be tolimitit to a group of movies with hackneyed plots, weak actors, and cluelessdirectors. Point of Origin is so much more than those terrible excuses forentertainment.The story concerns an arson investigator (Ray Liotta) and his protege(JohnLeguizamo) who are investigating a particularly nasty string of arsonfires.Those of you who remember the news of the incident this film is based onmight see the story coming, but most people will not simply because it istoo outlandish to be true. But it IS.What grabbed me most in this movie were the two lead performances byLeguizamo and Liotta as well as a directorial vision that is on the vergeofbrilliance. Every creative decision made in this movie had a very specificgoal. Pay close attention to the palette of colors used. Much of the movieis made up completely of black, white, and orange. Special effects areusedto great effect in putting the audience and the characters "inside" thefires they are investigating. As far as TV movies go, this one was trulyrefreshing.

mkteku 2012-04-24 21:34:21

one of the best movies on this planet (holywood)

beautifully shot, very clever camera usage, full of visual ideas. THIS ISWHAT MAKES A GOOD MOVIE A GREAT ONE. of course the story is important,mostof the times is the most important part, but when a film like this comesalong... (and this story is not dull at all, it is not what i meant)brilliant!

Victoria 2012-04-23 10:15:29

Worth a watch

Good story. Starts out strong but weakens along the way.Once you find out who is setting the fires, there's notmuch more to keep your interest. Of course it goes backand forth as to who is really the guilty party but..itgets kind of dull.

imahandful 2012-04-22 23:01:55

SPOILER: Answer to Questions posed by Previous Critiques

First I will admit that this movie is coming on as I sit here writing.I have, however, read both Joseph Wambaugh's book, Fire Lover, and JohnOrr's book, Point of Origin.Point of Origin is a fact-based work of fiction by a firefighter inSouthern California. Joseph Wambaugh's book describes him as a wanna-bepolice officer. (This is based on public records). Several of the fires that occur in Point of Origin are real fires thatwere set by John Orr. As determined by different juries.The reason that the "witnesses see" this other man and believe him tobe responsible for the fires is because of the time-delay devices thatwere used in setting the fires. These fires were actually set 15-30minutes before they broke into flames and discovered. Witnesses werequestioned about people in the area immediately prior to the breakoutof the fires. The particular types of incendiary devices used aredestroyed by either the fire or the extinguishing process.5 minutes into the movie and the only difference I see between thebooks and the movie is that the child in the opening scene, with theice cream cone and his grandmother, (both were killed in the Ole's HomeRepair Store fire).In real life he was only about 3 years old.For the best version with all details, please see Fire Lover.

stn71186 2012-04-18 09:54:41

One of HBO's worst films but still a good time filler.

Point of Origin is about a man who starts fires. Ray Liotta is aarcinost and we see some wierd but great visuals of him imagining how thefires start. However, he the other arcinosts believe he started thefires.John Leguizamo plays his partner who tries to prove John (Liotta) did notstart the fires. Thats about the whole story. Nothing tooexciting.The characters are undeveloped. Ray Liotta's character, we only get aglimpse of his home life and it is so briefly shown that you wonder whytheybothered with even those scenes. The music score was aweful, the worst Ihave ever heard. It made me cringe at times hearing such aweful sounds.THe cinematography is so overdone that at times it is unwatchable. Also,what was up with Illeana Douglas? She has a fairly small part but she isinit enough where we should know who she is but we never know. OK plot, badcharacters, BAD cimematography, and BAD BAD BAD score but for some reasonitis still watchable but very forgettable. It is suprising to see a movielike this join the list of HBO movies. For sure, this will be on thebottomof the HBO list of movies.

chldofthe80s 2012-04-17 14:33:43

Very well done!!

This was a very good movie. The filming techniques were very cool. Theending sort of left you guessing....was John Orr(Ray Liotta) guilty? Someofus thought so, others said he was definitely "set up." We highly recommendthis movie to those who enjoy reading a great mystery novel. It's laid outlike that only better because you also get all the awesome visualeffects!