Maura Tierney plays a tough New York cop with a secret life — she drinks too much and, though married, has a secret lover who burns her with cigarettes. Adrien Brody plays a sick pup of a kidnapper who has grabbed a middle-aged socialite and put her in an airless underground box to speed up the ransom. Oh, and he thinks he's some kind of reincarnation of Harry Houdini.Thus begins "Oxygen," a low budget made-for-Cinemax thriller that, I think, far exceeds expectations. First of all, Tierney, who very much reminds me of Lily Taylor, and Brody, who is impossibly young here, don't just chew up the scenery. They own this movie and make it their b*tch.At first, I was worried the movie would cave and ....MAJOR SPOILER... reveal that the husband was in on the snatch. Not.END OF SPOILERThis movie has bigger fish to fry and I was totally gratified that it went down dark places where cop and kidnapper realized that, on some level, they shared certain things. The two have a late scene in an interrogation room where they deliver volcanic performances.But once this psycho-thriller stuff is set aside, the movie comes to a swift ending. But right up to the end, you cannot predict what's coming next. Magicians, like Houdini, have things up their sleeve.Some terrific set pieces include a foot chase through a subway train in Steadi-Cam and a car chase in downtown NYC that is, though modest by "French Connection" standards, is still pretty ill.And, of course, there's the gritty and atmospheric NYC backdrop. The Twin Towers still stood tall when this came out in 1999.

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

Adrian Brody gives a very creepy tone to "Oxygen", which is a good thing. Maura Tierney is credible as a tormented cop. The screenplay about an ego driven kidnapper who idolizes Harry Houdini is different and intriguing. His ability to manipulate and outsmart the police and F.B.I. keeps things interesting and for about the first 75 minutes almost everything seems believable. Towards the end and especially with the ending, logic is completely suspended, the plot becomes contrived, and the audience is left with a preposterous conclusion. It is a real shame that "Oxygen" ends so badly, because the movie is highly watchable up until the wheels come off. - MERK

Where to begin, I guess I'll start with saying that Adrien Brody was awesome! This is one on my favorite films! If you haven't seen it yet you need to because it is just wonderful. Anyways Adrien Brody plays a psychotic murder named Harry, who kidnaps a woman and buries her alive. He does this as an attempt to get ransom money from her husband. Harry gets a tape to the husband which explains that if he wants to know where his wife is buried he must not contact the police and pay him the amount of money he asks for, or Harry will never tell where she is. Well of course like in every movie the husband goes to the police. In a wicked awesome chase scene Harry is captured, but keeps to his word of never telling the woman's where abouts. Maura Tierney is the only person Harry says he will talk to. As soon as she sits down the police are taken on a wild goose chase by the brilliant young killer. As the police say,"He's the brains in the operation." or something like that. With wonderful acting on both Maura and Adriens parts Oxygen is a fast paced thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.