Review of Surveillance (2008) by Richard R — 05 Mar 2010

Jennifer Lynch's directorial debut is an intelligent adult thriller, set in the American mid-west, which tells the vicious tale of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (just fancied writing it in full this time.

..I feel like I've never done it before :-) agents, played with admirable distinction by Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond, on the trail of homicidal maniacs on a killing spree through the hot, sticky desert.

Naturally, the Feds are not greeted with balloons and party hats by their police hosts who, led by that irreplaceable cult actor Michael Ironside (of Total Recall fame amongst others), take exception to being held under surveillance by their governmental colleagues.

The set-up is excellent with Lynch, like her father David before her, doing her utmost best to ensure that events do not unfold in a conventional Hollywood manner. It is safe to say that she succeeds in this.

A gripping, violent thriller, Surveillance has certainly been overlooked as far as this year's films go but may yet make my critical top ten by December. In true Lynch fashion, one feels as if the film is told on tilt, like a Smirnoff advert in which we are seeing 'the other side' of convention as, though familiar, the story is fresh due to the way it is told, the way in which key events occur and the director's choice of angles and focus.

Evil and very good.