Reviews for "Lost"
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REVIEWS
The Los Angeles Times
'Lost' finds the perfect role for Dean Cain
The actor plays a man facing an increasingly nightmarish situation in a smashing debut from a first-time director.
May 13, 2005|Kevin Thomas | Times Staff Writer
"Lost," a taut thriller in the best B-picture tradition, has a title that has more than one meaning. It's soon clear that Dean Cain's Jeremy Stanton, a Santa Barbara bank vice president, has not only lost his way in the Mojave Desert because of a maze of flood-closed roads but also lost his bearings as a man.
If there's any justice, this should be a breakthrough film for Cain, who since the end of his "Lois & Clark" TV series has appeared in some venturesome independent movies. "Lost" comes close to being a one-man show, with Cain on camera virtually throughout and only passing glimpses of others. He carries the film with ease and holds viewer interest with a strong, complex presence.In good time, inventive writer-director Darren Lemke, in a sure-footed feature debut, lets the viewer know that Jeremy is not just another guy on his way to meet his wife and son at a new residence in Nevada. It becomes clear that there's an urgent reason that he has to reach his destination within eight hours but that the journey should take only three, yet those detours keep piling up as in a Kafkaesque nightmare.Ever so gradually, Lemke deftly lassoes in his audience while, bit by bit, revealing what Jeremy is really up to and then introducing a growing element of menace. "Lost" is consistently clever, amusing -- and scary.Lemke has come up with an array of devices and techniques to engage and sustain interest and to build suspense slowly but with ever-increasing intensity. He skillfully teeters on the edge of plausibility but is a strong enough storyteller to make this approach seem unsettling rather than merely credibility-defying, thus earning the viewer's crucial willingness to suspend disbelief.Jeremy is constantly on his cellphone to a road-service operator, Judy (voice of Ashley Scott), for directions that are none too clear and definitely out of date. He also listens to the tapes of the Audio Guru (Paul Boehmer), who offers baldly self-evident advice, reiterated in chapter headings. The more Lemke reveals about Jeremy and the more frustrated he becomes, the more it triggers flashbacks that fill in the story.
The actor plays a man facing an increasingly nightmarish situation in a smashing debut from a first-time director.
May 13, 2005|Kevin Thomas | Times Staff Writer
"Lost," a taut thriller in the best B-picture tradition, has a title that has more than one meaning. It's soon clear that Dean Cain's Jeremy Stanton, a Santa Barbara bank vice president, has not only lost his way in the Mojave Desert because of a maze of flood-closed roads but also lost his bearings as a man.
If there's any justice, this should be a breakthrough film for Cain, who since the end of his "Lois & Clark" TV series has appeared in some venturesome independent movies. "Lost" comes close to being a one-man show, with Cain on camera virtually throughout and only passing glimpses of others. He carries the film with ease and holds viewer interest with a strong, complex presence.In good time, inventive writer-director Darren Lemke, in a sure-footed feature debut, lets the viewer know that Jeremy is not just another guy on his way to meet his wife and son at a new residence in Nevada. It becomes clear that there's an urgent reason that he has to reach his destination within eight hours but that the journey should take only three, yet those detours keep piling up as in a Kafkaesque nightmare.Ever so gradually, Lemke deftly lassoes in his audience while, bit by bit, revealing what Jeremy is really up to and then introducing a growing element of menace. "Lost" is consistently clever, amusing -- and scary.Lemke has come up with an array of devices and techniques to engage and sustain interest and to build suspense slowly but with ever-increasing intensity. He skillfully teeters on the edge of plausibility but is a strong enough storyteller to make this approach seem unsettling rather than merely credibility-defying, thus earning the viewer's crucial willingness to suspend disbelief.Jeremy is constantly on his cellphone to a road-service operator, Judy (voice of Ashley Scott), for directions that are none too clear and definitely out of date. He also listens to the tapes of the Audio Guru (Paul Boehmer), who offers baldly self-evident advice, reiterated in chapter headings. The more Lemke reveals about Jeremy and the more frustrated he becomes, the more it triggers flashbacks that fill in the story.
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By JUSTIN CHANG
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A man gets stuck in the desert for eight hours and finds himself terrorized at every turn in "Lost," a road-trip thriller that turns out to have one very tightly plotted itinerary. Schlocky yet resourceful, pic reps an unerringly paced and strikingly confident -- at times overconfident -- debut feature for writer-helmer Darren Lemke. Returns look potentially profitable for this low-budgeter.
Businessman Jeremy Stanton (Dean Cain) is already lost on a dusty Nevada highway as the film opens, en route to meeting his wife and son (Irina Bjorklund, Griffin Armstorff). The family has just relocated from Los Angeles, and Stanton is the stereotypical Angeleno yuppie -- he wears shades, tosses rubbish out his car window and barks condescendingly into his cell phone at Judy, a cheerfully clueless Road-Aid operator (voiced by Ashley Scott) trying to navigate him back to civilization.
In short, he's due for a comeuppance, and he gets one. As every mile leads Stanton further into the desert, his radio buzzes ominously about a group of thugs that robbed a California bank that very day and remains at large.
How Stanton crosses paths with the thugs -- as of course he must -- comes to light in a genuinely inspired twist that ratchets up the interest level considerably while confounding the aud's identification with the protag.
From there, the story slides into a rote but ruthlessly efficient cat-and-mouse game between Stanton and the armed-and-sadistic Archer (Danny Trejo), whose face is kept off camera to the very end. (All we see are rings and Native American tattoos.) Archer evinces an alarming if not always plausible ability to track Stanton wherever he goes, threatening him by phone and doling out nasty surprises with an unnervingly even hand.
Fast, propulsive and mildly over-caffeinated, Lemke's direction exhibits more than a few symptoms of first-film syndrome. The script frequently substitutes profanity for wit, and every new scene -- even the end credits -- is introduced with a sardonic directive ("Proper planning is the key to a successful road trip") from the fake but cleverly assembled Road-Aid guide manual.
Easily the most jarring element in this otherwise lean and stripped-down suspenser is its jittery habit of following almost every line with a sudden cut to a memory from Stanton's recent and not-so-recent past, accompanied by the crack of what could be lightning or a gunshot (maybe both). Lemke's zeal for jump cuts is practically Godardian, but his method of filling out Stanton's backstory.
"Lost" is basically a one-man show for Cain. Stanton never loses his golden-boy swagger or his sense of entitlement, and early on, the threat of a gruesome end doesn't seem entirely unwelcome. But Cain's performance gains in sympathy as the film goes on, and cinematographer Paul Emami draws his lens tighter and tighter on the thesp's increasingly sweaty face, heightening the paradoxical sense of a man trapped in a wide-open landscape.
Pic's look is surprisingly polished for its budget and is enhanced by a Russ Landau score that modulates between tense and twangy.
By JUSTIN CHANG
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A man gets stuck in the desert for eight hours and finds himself terrorized at every turn in "Lost," a road-trip thriller that turns out to have one very tightly plotted itinerary. Schlocky yet resourceful, pic reps an unerringly paced and strikingly confident -- at times overconfident -- debut feature for writer-helmer Darren Lemke. Returns look potentially profitable for this low-budgeter.
Businessman Jeremy Stanton (Dean Cain) is already lost on a dusty Nevada highway as the film opens, en route to meeting his wife and son (Irina Bjorklund, Griffin Armstorff). The family has just relocated from Los Angeles, and Stanton is the stereotypical Angeleno yuppie -- he wears shades, tosses rubbish out his car window and barks condescendingly into his cell phone at Judy, a cheerfully clueless Road-Aid operator (voiced by Ashley Scott) trying to navigate him back to civilization.
In short, he's due for a comeuppance, and he gets one. As every mile leads Stanton further into the desert, his radio buzzes ominously about a group of thugs that robbed a California bank that very day and remains at large.
How Stanton crosses paths with the thugs -- as of course he must -- comes to light in a genuinely inspired twist that ratchets up the interest level considerably while confounding the aud's identification with the protag.
From there, the story slides into a rote but ruthlessly efficient cat-and-mouse game between Stanton and the armed-and-sadistic Archer (Danny Trejo), whose face is kept off camera to the very end. (All we see are rings and Native American tattoos.) Archer evinces an alarming if not always plausible ability to track Stanton wherever he goes, threatening him by phone and doling out nasty surprises with an unnervingly even hand.
Fast, propulsive and mildly over-caffeinated, Lemke's direction exhibits more than a few symptoms of first-film syndrome. The script frequently substitutes profanity for wit, and every new scene -- even the end credits -- is introduced with a sardonic directive ("Proper planning is the key to a successful road trip") from the fake but cleverly assembled Road-Aid guide manual.
Easily the most jarring element in this otherwise lean and stripped-down suspenser is its jittery habit of following almost every line with a sudden cut to a memory from Stanton's recent and not-so-recent past, accompanied by the crack of what could be lightning or a gunshot (maybe both). Lemke's zeal for jump cuts is practically Godardian, but his method of filling out Stanton's backstory.
"Lost" is basically a one-man show for Cain. Stanton never loses his golden-boy swagger or his sense of entitlement, and early on, the threat of a gruesome end doesn't seem entirely unwelcome. But Cain's performance gains in sympathy as the film goes on, and cinematographer Paul Emami draws his lens tighter and tighter on the thesp's increasingly sweaty face, heightening the paradoxical sense of a man trapped in a wide-open landscape.
Pic's look is surprisingly polished for its budget and is enhanced by a Russ Landau score that modulates between tense and twangy.
By M. Crowson (Richmond, Virginia)
I originally read about this movie in an issue of Fangoria magazine, which led me to believe that it was a horror film. We picked it up and watched it and my first reaction was this is a crappy horror film, but man what an awesome action/drama! After I saw the movie I reread the article in Fangoria and the author conceded that this movie was not a horror film (this totally slipped by me when I read it the first time), but was a film worthy of viewing by anyone who liked good films. The author is right. Dean Cain, usually associated with the Lois and Clark series, is better known to me through the horror films he's done like Boa and Dragon Fighter, and him hosting the Ripley's Believe It or Not series. I'm not a big fan of his work, but always thought he was a descent enough actor. He's excellent in this film. There is not one point that I didn't believe him as this character. He does an absolutely incredible job of making us believe him. The supporting cast is brilliant with Danny Trejo as the menace on the road and Ashley Scott comes off as the perfect 'voice on the phone' that's easy to listen too and easy to believe. The story is well thought out and it's an absolute blast to watch a bad situation goes from bad, to worse, and finally totally disintegrates right in front of him. I'm not familiar with anything that Darren Lemke's done in the past, but if this is any indication of what is coming in the future, then I'm in for the ride of my life.
By Dave's Film Review (Los Angeles, CA)
Dean Cain is America's most overlooked actor. He is terrific in this suspensful, somewhat ironic thriller. In the vein of Breakdown and Duel, this thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat. I can't say it enough, Dean Cain did one hell of a job! LOST is most noteable for an outstanding unexpectedly so performance from Dean Cain. While Cain has had some good roles in movies like MAN ON FIRE and BEST MEN, nothing has challenged him as much as this role. He plays Jeremy, a young executive who has just pulled off a major heist (6 million), and finds himself lost somewhere in Nevada, being followed by the robbers he betrayed and his only ally a voice from the Road Map customer service department. Cain pretty much has a solo act in this unusual thriller, well written and directed. He displays a range of emotion he has rarely had to call on before, and he pulls through with a stunning performance. Credit also to Danny Trejo, who we only hear as well as Ashley Scott, who is Judy, the voice on the other end of the line. Tense and disturbing, with much religious allegory and symbolism, LOST is a film that deserves a bigger audience.
By Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV)
LOST is most noteable for an outstanding unexpectedly so performance from Dean Cain. While Cain has had some good roles in movies like MAN ON FIRE and BEST MEN, nothing has challenged him as much as this role. He plays Jeremy, a young executive who has just pulled off a major heist (6 million), and finds himself lost somewhere in Nevada, being followed by the robbers he betrayed and his only ally a voice from the Road Map customer service department. Cain pretty much has a solo act in this unusual thriller, well written and directed. He displays a range of emotion he has rarely had to call on before, and he pulls through with a stunning performance. Credit also to Danny Trejo, who we only hear as well as Ashley Scott, who is Judy, the voice on the other end of the line. Tense and disturbing, with much religious allegory and symbolism, LOST is a film that deserves a bigger audience.
I originally read about this movie in an issue of Fangoria magazine, which led me to believe that it was a horror film. We picked it up and watched it and my first reaction was this is a crappy horror film, but man what an awesome action/drama! After I saw the movie I reread the article in Fangoria and the author conceded that this movie was not a horror film (this totally slipped by me when I read it the first time), but was a film worthy of viewing by anyone who liked good films. The author is right. Dean Cain, usually associated with the Lois and Clark series, is better known to me through the horror films he's done like Boa and Dragon Fighter, and him hosting the Ripley's Believe It or Not series. I'm not a big fan of his work, but always thought he was a descent enough actor. He's excellent in this film. There is not one point that I didn't believe him as this character. He does an absolutely incredible job of making us believe him. The supporting cast is brilliant with Danny Trejo as the menace on the road and Ashley Scott comes off as the perfect 'voice on the phone' that's easy to listen too and easy to believe. The story is well thought out and it's an absolute blast to watch a bad situation goes from bad, to worse, and finally totally disintegrates right in front of him. I'm not familiar with anything that Darren Lemke's done in the past, but if this is any indication of what is coming in the future, then I'm in for the ride of my life.
By Dave's Film Review (Los Angeles, CA)
Dean Cain is America's most overlooked actor. He is terrific in this suspensful, somewhat ironic thriller. In the vein of Breakdown and Duel, this thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat. I can't say it enough, Dean Cain did one hell of a job! LOST is most noteable for an outstanding unexpectedly so performance from Dean Cain. While Cain has had some good roles in movies like MAN ON FIRE and BEST MEN, nothing has challenged him as much as this role. He plays Jeremy, a young executive who has just pulled off a major heist (6 million), and finds himself lost somewhere in Nevada, being followed by the robbers he betrayed and his only ally a voice from the Road Map customer service department. Cain pretty much has a solo act in this unusual thriller, well written and directed. He displays a range of emotion he has rarely had to call on before, and he pulls through with a stunning performance. Credit also to Danny Trejo, who we only hear as well as Ashley Scott, who is Judy, the voice on the other end of the line. Tense and disturbing, with much religious allegory and symbolism, LOST is a film that deserves a bigger audience.
By Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV)
LOST is most noteable for an outstanding unexpectedly so performance from Dean Cain. While Cain has had some good roles in movies like MAN ON FIRE and BEST MEN, nothing has challenged him as much as this role. He plays Jeremy, a young executive who has just pulled off a major heist (6 million), and finds himself lost somewhere in Nevada, being followed by the robbers he betrayed and his only ally a voice from the Road Map customer service department. Cain pretty much has a solo act in this unusual thriller, well written and directed. He displays a range of emotion he has rarely had to call on before, and he pulls through with a stunning performance. Credit also to Danny Trejo, who we only hear as well as Ashley Scott, who is Judy, the voice on the other end of the line. Tense and disturbing, with much religious allegory and symbolism, LOST is a film that deserves a bigger audience.
