A master criminal holds all the cards. They've taken a dispatcher's daughter, but who is in on it? Everything works in the favor of the criminals until the dispatcher figures it out. But like any good cops and robbers movie, only the good guy's bullet hit their target. The good cop can run through a hail of bullets and not get hit, but his one shot will take down the bad guy every time. Good suspense, great acting by the heroine, but everyone else is pretty lame. The plot doesn't hold, there are countless inconsistencies and mistakes. (In one scene, the good guy is holding his gun three different ways at the same time. This movie isn't worth quality time. Best reserved for waiting for a plane at the airport or on the subway.

My rational mind tells me I should dislike this film rather strongly, yet accepting it as a moderate-budget direct-to-video potboiler, I found it watchable.

The movie has a number of significant issues.

First, and most distracting, not a single shot looked as if the camera were locked down. Few things are more annoying than excessive use of jiggly-cam shots. The Steadicam operator did a credible job of masking the camera movement with subtle pans, tilts and zooms, but the constant motion is distracting.

Mischa Barton was absolutely stunning and statuesque ten years ago and had the looks to play the total babe leading lady roles often found in action films. Now she has the looks more often associated with romantic comedies – attractive, but not so stunningly beautiful to seem threatening to housewives in the audience. Several lines of dialogue comment on her ensemble and she is framed above the waist in every shot, even when a wider shot would seem better suited. Not being familiar with her or her prior work, my suspicion was that she was pregnant and the filmmakers wanted to mask it, which proved distracting as her character has supposedly been separated for a year. I've since learned that she is a designer, so the wardrobe may have been one of her designs.

Several plot twists were fairly obvious. The only one that caught me by surprise involved Ving Rhames.

The emergency call center procedures seemed realistic, except for failure to transfer calls to a busy line and the manner in which calls were assigned to operators, which seemed contrived. Some other police procedures seemed suspect.

Everything seemed to happen in a vacuum. There were no bystanders, pedestrians, motorists or people trying to enter the bank, and no employees or guards at two locations. With one exception, there was no other traffic on the roads during car chases or other driving shots.

Many aspects don't make sense. One would think the heist would require a team larger than Ali Baba's band of forty thieves, but they seem to have pulled it off with fewer than ten. People survive horrendous car accidents without wearing seat belts. A police officer fires at a location where a hostage is being held. Cellular tracking is uncannily precise. One officer wears an arm patch for DeKalb Technical College Public Safety Police.

The plot has more holes than a wheel of Emmental cheese. But despite the flaws, the movie is fairly enjoyable. Luke Goss does a credible job with what he's given. Ving Rhames plays a familiar role with a satisfying undercurrent of malice. The car chases are fairly good. Other than the seemingly complete reliance on jiggly-cam shots (and the Steadicam operator(s) did a superior job),the production values were adequate.

It's not a great film, but it's a pleasant distraction if one doesn't take it too seriously.

The film opens with clumsy burglars and a fire. Young Cassie (Riley Bundick) survives the fire, but mom, dispatch operator Pamela (Mischa Barton) is "crazy mad" at dad, Officer Jeremy Miller (Luke Goss) for leaving her alone at home. They are now separated. At work Pamela receives 911 phone calls from Ving Rhames who instructs her to send her husband all over Atlanta where accidents happen after he arrives.

We really don't know why this is happening and even after we find out, it still didn't make a lot of sense to create diversions in this manner. We have seen similar style stories and for the most part, they were better. For some reason we have to add Jeremy is 5 months sober, even though it never factored into the film. Apparently rehab is the latest vogue aspect in Hollywood films. We have gone from drinking and smoking cigarettes is sexy and cool to non-smokers in a 12 point program.

Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity. Go watch 12 Rounds 2 instead.