Everybody's a critic: 'Freedomland'

One star (out of four)

Seeing the trailer for "Freedomland" a couple of weeks ago led me to believe that it was a spooky psychological thriller. The menacing, dimly lit shots of the decayed, abandoned "Freedomland" children's asylum suggested that some scary stuff was about to go down.

It turns out, though, that the only thing scary in this movie is the actors' overblown hysterics. There's an awful lot of screaming and shouting in this movie and often it seems hollow.

Reigning queen of the histrionics here is Julianne Moore as Brenda, victim of a carjacking. She reveals something to investigators that the carjacker didn't know: Her son was sleeping in the backseat of the car. Or was he? Immediately, detective Lorenzo Council (Samuel L. Jackson) finds her story dubious.

It's easy to guess the film's conclusion early. One must simply wait to fill in the details. Aside from a few moving moments from Moore and a strong supporting performance by Edie Falco as a sympathetic mom, this one can ultimately be passed over.

-- Bob Clubbs

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One star (out of four)

During the preview for "Freedomland," I leaned over to my husband Bob and said, "Now there's a movie I don't want to see."

It seemed like a cross between the Susan Smith story (the mother who claimed her children were kidnapped by a carjacker, but she had killed them) and "The Haunting" (the place haunted by children who had bad things happen to them there). Neither would be an enjoyable film for a parent to sit through, yet I think this is just how the movie was pitched to the studio.

Perhaps because it is this hybrid rather than faithful to the novel it was based on, the screenplay seems stilted. To fill the gaps, the actors go over the top with their emoting. The one shining exception is Edie Falco as a woman who finds lost children. But even her performance can't turn this into a movie I want to see.

-- Brooke Clubbs

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Three stars (out of four)

"Freedomland" is a riveting film starring Julianne Moore and Samuel L. Jackson. Moore plays a mother who is the victim of a carjacking that will result in the abduction of her young son. Bloodied and bruised, she stumbles to the nearest hospital inside the projects of a New Jersey suburb.

Samuel L. Jackson plays the consummate detective assigned to take her report. Jackson begins to have suspicions about who is behind the crime and later enlists a missing-child advocate to help with the case.

The case of the missing child causes a division in community and racial lines. Police lock down the projects in hopes of finding the child. Julianne Moore creates a character that is powerful and tragic. Combine this with Jackson's classic acting style and you have a must-see film for those who love drama and suspense. This movie is fast paced with lots of twists and turns.

-- Jerry Swan