JV
Posts: 3506
Joined: 26/9/2005
From: two counties east of home
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No spoilers 
A film that has pretty good reviews all round, including one from myself, this is a gritty film with a realistic edge despite a conspicuous absence of action scenes and heroics.
The plot is pretty simple. The day starts out in the home of a couple. The first 20 minutes or so are taken up in showing their various mundane morning routines, and after Wifey heads off to work, Hubby listens to the radio which makes a special broadcast about a series of bombs that have been detonated in downtown Los Angeles... which is where Wifey works.
After an initial bid to go out and find her, he returns home alone to hear on the radio that the devices were dirty bombs carrying possible toxic sustances which could by now be airborne. As per instructions, he seals up his home and repeatedly tries to reach his wife on her cellphone to no avail. As you can imagine, things get a little tricky when his wife turns up at home distressed and seeking home comforts to find the house sealed up.
The questions this throws up are all too real which is in all likelihood the main reason this film is going to do so well. The audience, living in a world where terrorist attacks are becoming a greater threat with each passing day, can see and imagine all sides of the problem - Hubby's, Wifey's, not to mention the local authorities' - and asks themselves what they would do if presented with such a dilemma. The tension never really lets up and as with any major catastrophe the initial events fade into insignificance in the days and hours that follow them: Hubby's attempts to get help and advice are, nine times out of ten, unanswered as emergency services struggle to cope and there is the dawning realisation that their definition of 'help' may not be the same as Joe Public's. This is what makes the film: the knowledge that this could actually happen and the audience asking themselves what they would do in that situation.
Now for the details. The acting is good. Mary McCormack is the only person I have vaguely heard of, but the cast - small though it is - does a great job. The beginning of the film sees some of the scenes and dialogue fall a little flat as the audience knows that it is just scene-setting for a catastrophic event. There are a couple of small touches in the plot that I wouldn't have bothered with as the film can do without them, namely the inclusion of a small boy, but it causes no real adverse affect to the finished product. The script is, in my opinion, as good as you can get it in this sort of film and as realistic as it would be in the sort of situation presented. The twist, the disclosure of which is something that has ruined the pre-release publicity in many people's opinion, is something I had totally forgotten about until it happened, so I wouldn't worry about it spoiling your enjoyment of the film.
Overall, this is thoroughly worth seeing, but not for its entertainment value. As entertainment, it has none. As mentioned before, it makes the audience truly think about not just the events but also its possible aftereffects, and while imagining yourself in that situation is a horrifying prospect, in the current political climate it is sadly one worth considering.
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but love is the sky and i am for you
just so long and long enough
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Printable Version
Right At Your Door - 
: the toxin is supposed to be a virus and viruses can't "incubate" as such. The need to infect cells such as other bacteria which multiply and then burst out or whatever but bacteria on the kitchen floor couldn't really multiply without a food source like in a PETRI DISH. Besides how do you blast viruses out of a bomb without destroying them!?! Everything else (buildings etc.) turned to ash. 
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