Amber Alert
September 25th, 2024
MOVIE: AMBER ALERT
STARRING: HAYDEN PANETTIERE, TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS, KEVIN DUNN
DIRECTED BY: KERRY BELLESSA
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 90 MINUTES
Amber Alert is a tragedy in the sense that it has the potential for a gripping genre piece but ultimately feels more like a public service announcement stretched to feature length. While writer-director Kerry Bellessa, who previously created a lower-budget version of the same title in 2012, aims to tell a thrilling story, this iteration feels slicker—with bigger-name actors but only a mild dose of excitement. Although Amber Alert nearly captures our attention, they often drive in circles instead of moving forward.
The film opens with a mother enjoying a picnic at the park while keeping an eye on her two young children. When the kids play hide and seek, a car pulls up and lures a girl away. Fortunately, the mother manages to capture a photo that inadvertently documents her daughter’s abduction. Meanwhile, Jaq (Hayden Panettiere) misses her first Uber, but Shane (Tyler James Williams), who was about to end his shift, kindly agrees to take her off the meter. As they drive, an Amber Alert is issued, and they spot a car matching the description of the kidnapper. This sets off a desperate race to track down the perpetrator and rescue the child. However, the journey proves challenging for two regular people who are unaware of the depths of the danger they face.
Amber Alert shares similarities with other driving thrillers like Russell Crowe’s Unhinged, Halle Berry’s tense drama as a 911 operator in The Call, and even Steven Spielberg’s Duel, where a driver is menaced by a freight truck. The difference here lies in the film’s lack of real thrills and its failure to escalate tension, which detracts from audience engagement. Jaq and Shane are merely passengers in their own story, and Bellessa struggles to deliver excitement until the characters confront the suspect later on. Despite the efforts of Bellessa and co-writer Joshua Oram, Amber Alert desperately needs a thrilling car chase or an intense standoff to keep viewers invested in the narrative.
While Panettiere and Williams deliver solid performances, the film lacks urgency and narrative flair, making it hard to grasp the viewer’s attention. As Amber Alert moves toward its conclusion—complete with a closing coda—it becomes increasingly clear that the film prioritizes raising awareness about sex trafficking and child abductions over crafting a thrilling narrative. It ends up feeling more like homework instead of a movie than a suspenseful story, ultimately neglecting its responsibility to keep audiences on high alert.
2 STARS
AMBER ALERT IS PLAYING IN THEATERS FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27TH, 2024.
Written by: Leo Brady
