Surveillance

54% of critics liked it

43% of users liked it

Bill Pullman, Julia Ormond
In theaters Jun 26, 2009
R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Movie Info

Cast: Bill Pullman, Julia Ormond, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins, Cheri Oteri, French Stewart, Kent Harper, Michael Ironside, Charlie Newmark, Mac Miller
Director: Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Rated: R
Running Time: 1 hr. 38 min.
Genre: Mystery & Suspense, Drama
Theater Release: Jun 26, 2009
DVD Release: Aug 18, 2009
Synopsis: An FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer attempts to capture the madman with a little assistance from his would-be victims in director Jennifer Chambers Lynch's supernatural police thriller. FBI agents Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman) are on the trail of some killers when they arrive in a small desert town to investigate a vicious mass shooting on the highway. The witnesses are an overzealous cop, an unreliable junkie, and an eight-year-old girl. For some

Critic Reviews

  • Jason Anderson, Toronto Star
    Pullman's striking performance here is undermined by Lynch's overreliance on those same grisly shock tactics, as well as a script that fails to capitalize on a promising premise and then swiftly collapses upon the revelation of a not-so-shocking twist. More...
  • James Adams, Globe and Mail
    The film's a failure. More...
  • Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
    In this long-time-coming sophomore film, Lynch exercises powers of her own. She gets repellant, seductive, sympathetic performances from her actors. Ormond and Pullman are frightfully good at teasing intimacy. More...
  • Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
    Its mad killers may wear masks. But the real and cheap disguise here is the film's own -- an exploitation shocker trying to pass itself off as art. More...
  • Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
    A grubby, disturbing serial-killer mystery, a kind of blood-simple Rashomon. More...
  • Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
    The most enjoyable way to watch Surveillance -- 'enjoyable' in the relative sense -- is to take its awfulness for granted and pay attention to everything Bill Pullman does. More...
  • Kyle Smith, New York Post
    Ether a ludicrously bad movie or a parody of same. Either way, it's pretty funny. More...
  • Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
    Every so often, you come upon a movie so jaw-droppingly wrong, you wonder if your eyes are deceiving you. More...
  • Manohla Dargis, New York Times
    A would-be transgression that tries to squeeze dark laughs from the spectacle of human suffering. More...
  • S. James Snyder, Time Out New York
    The many devils in Surveillance don't just want money or blood; they take pleasure in seeing you squirm, and that's precisely why this nightmare gets under your skin. More...