MOVIE DETAILS
Rating: 4.4 Out of 10
Release Date: October 10, 2002
Director: Jack Sholder
Writer: Michael Cordell, Gregory Gieras
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Joey Lauren Adams, Ed Quinn
Genres: Thriller/Crime
Beeper Movie Review
Beeper is a 2002 thriller film following a doctor whose son is abducted by kidnappers in India and who later works with Zolo (Harvey Keitel) to find them and free his son from captivity.
Jack Sholder directed this film. After beginning with some decent genre movies such as Alone in the Dark and Wishmaster 2, Sholder went downhill, leading him to produce films like this. Keitel and Lauren Adams co-star.
Plot
Beeper is a movie about a doctor traveling to India with his son when the latter is kidnapped by unscrupulous kidnappers and needs only beeper communication to communicate with his kidnappers and navigate dangerous streets in an attempt to rescue his son. Jack Sholder directs this film reminiscent of classic thrillers such as Alone in the Dark or Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge before transitioning into less successful fare such as Wishmaster 2. Sholder brought his distinct style back when making Wishmaster 2, using an old VHS camera for filming scenes which look very much like it did during its production.
Story and acting both fall far short, yet some decent action sequences remain in this movie despite it all. Overall though, it seems largely pointless and should be avoided at all costs.
Cast & Crew
Beeper features Harvey Keitel (Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction), Joey Lauren Adams from Chasing Amy), Ed Quinn (Starship Troopers 2, House of the Dead 2) and Gulshan Grover from Hera Pheri (I Am Kalam). Director Jack Sholder had become known for creating entertaining genre films during his early years, but by Wishmaster 2, his output had become uninspiring and subpar. Gregory Gieras and Michael Cordell – known for writing movies such as Big Ass Spider and Centipede – serve as writers for this movie, while Ajayan Vincent, known for working on Uwe Boll films such as Alone in the Dark and Wishmaster 2, serves as cinematographer. Andy Horvitch served as editor for Beeper, having cut other Stuart Gordon movies such as Edmond, Stuck, Arena and Demonic Toys. J. Peter Robinson composed its music score; previously working on movies such as Detroit Rock City and Vampire in Brooklyn.
Rating
Beeper’s story and actors are intriguing; unfortunately, though, its overall execution onscreen was ultimately disappointing. With an incoherent plot, unconvincing acting, and little suspense it’s difficult to recommend. Director Jack Sholder began his career with quality genre films like Alone in the Dark and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, yet by Beeper it seems as though his creative juices had run dry; Beeper is like something produced by an assembly-line production team just ticking off boxes on an generic thriller checklist.
Overall
Beeper is an unappealing thriller with an incoherent plot and subpar performances, marking Jack Sholder out as an inconsistent filmmaker despite beginning his career making genre films such as Alone In The Dark and Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, so it was disheartening to witness him turn out such a subpar work. Andy Horvitch did some exceptional editing work here – Edmond, Stuck, The Pit and Pendulum and Arena among many others were cut.
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