Review of While She Was Out (2008) by Mike M — 24 Jan 2009

A strange, admirably efficient it-could-happen-to-you nightmare... The everyday inconveniences of the opening act - bad parking, yes, but also poor customer service, declined credit cards and awkward encounters with former acquaintances - are slightly more striking in their portrayal than the conventional hide-and-seek that results, but the film gains in menace by taking antagonists who aren't the smart-arsed provocateurs of, say, "Eden Lake", rather credibly dim and posturing amateurs just as prone to random acts of aggression (Lukas Haas has an extraordinary opening line) as they are to be scared of their own shadows.

Basinger, seemingly looking to rebuild her career with damsels in distress (remember "Cellular"?), gets some kind of workout here: it's certainly your only chance to see her drive a tire iron up a young man's nose and then bemoan the absence of God from this world while standing ankle-deep in a stream.