Whatever Mark Harmon saw in "Certain Prey" wasn't in it when I saw it. This pedestrian police procedural about Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief Lucas Davenport solving a complicated crime delivers barely enough to make it tolerable. Nothing about Oscar nominated writer & director Chris Gerolmo's run-of-the-mill saga stands out. Mark Harmon is charismatic enough, but nobody else seems remotely interesting. Mind you, Chief Davenport resembles Harmon's Special Agent Jethro Gibbs in large part. The Chief has a cabin in the woods where he goes to ponder things. Davenport's adversaries are a pair of killer bimbos who display no qualms about knocking people off in cold blood. These lethal ladies are bad news. Just ask the stuck-up narcotics peddler who doesn't believe that a dame can kill. One of the gals draws the line at gunning down little girls while the other has worries about a munchkin who saw them leave a crime scene. This is one of many complications that gum up the works for the unlucky pair. Cast as a sexy attorney named Carmel Loan, Lola Glaudini looks like a slim, attractive Susan Sarandon. Carmel is an obnoxious attorney who chases ambulances and loves to get married men in hot water. She hooks up with another lady, Clara Rinker (Tatiana Maslany of "Defendor"), to kill a villainous dope dealer. Initially, Clara is interesting because she became a killer when she killed a rapist with a baseball bat to the brain. Clara's willingness to kill makes her a splendid candidate for hit-man school. Since the St. Louis mob has trained her, Clara has iced more than 25 victims. This cute dish wields a silenced .22 caliber automatic pistol and lives out of town. She loves to pour lead into her victims, long after they have been shot. This poor trait rubs off on her friend Carmel who doesn't know when to start shooting and when to stop. Clara gets into trouble when she kills a cop who witnessed her execution style killing. The FBI is now on her trail, but they don't have much evidence to incriminate Clara.Although our hero absorbs a couple of shots, the Chief survives all the lead in the air with comparative ease. An innocent bystander captures a video of Davenport shooting an assailant charging him with a sports car and a pistol. The best surprise occurs during the last few minutes when we realize that one of those dolls escapes without either dying or doing time. In other words, Gerolmo doesn't tie up everything in a neat bundle. Instead, he leaves strands dangling. If anything sets this made-for-television crime thriller is Davenport's ethically challenged method of operation. He his loves to provoke his suspects and this strategy works. He has little use for search warrants and keeps hose and lock-pick tools handy. Unfortunately, the Chief's adversaries fall for this trick when they aren't tripping themselves up. The gag with the soap is one of the best. Sadly, unlike "NCIS," Harmon is surrounded by actors and actresses that pale by comparison with his gifted CBS-TV colleagues. The repartee between Chief Davenport and his colleagues is pretty bland for the man who wrote "Mississippi Burning," and nobody stands out as prominently as Davenport. A running gag is Chief Davenport's sexual exploits, particularly his 40 nights with a female subordinate. The things to watch for are a thick police manuscript and a lady who has trouble counting the number of .22 caliber cartridges in a container. Harmon delivers the only memorable line of dialogue: "Everybody I talk to says he's dumber than a barrel of hair." This shallow, straightforward thriller is ultimately forgettable. Only die-hard Mark Harmon should endure this polished pabulum.

To say the plot of this movie was fresh in my mind is a serious understatement. I had just finished rereading the book at 2:30am, thinking "this would make such a good movie!" and I turned the TV on and no joke, the movie was on USA at that exact moment. It was kind of freaky.Talk about being thrilled!But I was very very disappointed. First of all, Mark Harmon???? He is no Lucas Davenport. I dream of Lucas....Mark is NOT him.... no. Plus Lucas isn't fully grey yet.I am still baffled at the casting for Marcy Sherrill. Angie Harmon would have been a much better casting. And Black as well (not to mention that in the books Black is still half in the closet gay)And why on earth did they change Carmel's car from a bright red Jag.I would really love for these books to be made into real, credible, GOOD movies with a great cast that can actually act. I don't understand why John Sandford is approving these or whatever. The books are so great. It pains me to see them made into "barely acceptable made-for-TV (and-not-even-lifetime-quality" movies.

This was very well acted and a totally engaging show. Would love to see this followed up with a sequel to watch the exchange of interesting energy between Harmon and his antagonist.The one complaint I would have is with the overly sexy detective under his authority--her energy should be toned down. I am unfamiliar with the novel and works of the author and have found it is usually disappointing to read a book and then to see the film adaptation, as there is insufficient time in a film for proper character development. Therefore, in my opinion, this movie was a hit and I have no intention of reading the book or books on which this film was based.I watch NCIS every week without fail and have enjoyed it as well. Mark Harmon is on a roll!

I have read all of the Prey novels and am a big fan. I have been a Mark Harmon fan for years. I was thrilled to hear he would be playing Davenport and he did a pretty terrific job....if he'll lose the narration next time out.But the casting? OMG, who did the casting? Carmel was a joke. The actress simply can't act. Rinker was good but Marcy? Hell, no! That has to be the worst casting this decade. Marcy is a tough as nails broad and not a bimbo.Let's get some real casting next time around. Actors who are really worth the wait for the next Prey installment.