Not something you havnt seen before, but a good movie.

Freedomland (2006): Dir: Joe Roth / Cast: Julianne Moore, Samuel L. Jackson, Edie Falco, Ron Eldard, William Forsythe: Disappointing thriller about freedom of culture. Julianne Moore arrives battered at a hospital and informs a detective that she was carjacked and her four year old son was in the backseat. The fact that the alleged carjacker is black causes racial tension. Starts out fine but loses focus with the whole racial bit. Story never focuses on the issue at hand with the missing child. Instead the screenwriter throws in a racial subplot that not only distracts, but is totally unnecessary. Even the ending is difficult to accept. Director Joe Roth does well with ominous lighting but Moore is intolerable with every whine, moan and shriek. This is unfortunate given that she has done wonderful work in films that highlight her talent with notable roles. Samuel L. Jackson does his best as the detective but the role is subdued within that whole racial subplot that never worked to begin with. Flat supporting work by Edie Falco and Ron Eldard as if their contribution could save this farce. When spectators left the theatre there was more than one individual mocking Moore in her plea filled last scene. That is probably not what the filmmakers intended but it is a good sign of a bad thriller nonetheless. It never remains focused leaving one to wonder if the screenwriter was given too much freedom. Score: 4 / 10

Joe Roth directs "Freedomland", a crime drama starring Samuel L Jackson as a police detective attempting to help a woman, played by Julianne Moore, locate her kidnapped son.The film has been torn to shreds by critics and audiences, but those bored of conventional crime movies should find "Freedomland" somewhat refreshing. Roth's film goes off on odd tangents, dwells on moments that similar films typically leave out, and devotes large chunks of its running time to sequences others usually brush quickly aside. This has annoyed many people, but flawed unconventional movies are often more interesting than conventional ones done impeccably."Freedomland", for example, climaxes with a massively long monologue by Julianne Moore, introduces an interesting social worker (beautifully played by Edie Falco), proceeds in an unusually relaxed, somewhat naturalistic manner, and features a crime that is not only all internal and largely unseen, but completely misrecognised for most of the film. The film also segues into all kinds of odd, offshoot scenes, like those in which Moore (surprisingly) expresses her love for Jackson, Jackson visits an imprisoned Moore and offers her coping advice, and scenes between Jackson and his jailed son.The film features several actors from "The Wire", and opens with a somewhat cold opening, now typical of modern crime films ("The Wire", "Miami Vice" etc). Its themes of racial tension and ethnic clashes are mostly trite, and both Moore and Jackson turn in sub-par work (though Jackson is fun to watch; he does a black Popeye Doyle), but the film captures well both the sense of a large, pulsating community, in which everyone seems to know one another, and the hypocrisy of a society which fawns over missing white kids whilst the plights of African Americans remain covered up or ignored.7.9/10 – If one looks past Roth's confused, unsure direction, this is a very interesting film. See too Wim Wenders' "Land of Plenty" and David Simon's "The Wire". Simon, incidentally, would cite Richard Price (who wrote "Freedomland") as an influence.

As many critics pointed out by the time of its release, February is the release slot for some hopeless movies. Too bad that should apply to a movie like Freedomland. I don't say this because the movie should have had a better shot, but because an idea with a good potential was treated as a dull and motionless thriller we get to see every other week. Of course we have this big names above title, such as Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore, but oddly it's not them you remember when its over. It's a lady named Eddie Falco, whose walkabout role allows her to show how great an actress she is even with the scarse material she's given. Moore and Jackson don't seem like themselves, not on a bad note, but having the two main roles, it is amazing how you come to disregard them. Jackson is always a trustful actor, but Moore delivers a performance that is unlike herself. Director Joe Roth is the one to blame, not for making Freedomland a bad movie, but for making it entirely forgettable.