Liberty Stands Still (2002)

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Liberty Wallace (Linda Fiorentino), the wife and business partner of wealthy weapons manufacturer Victor Wallace (Oliver Platt), is on her way to her regular assignation with her boyfriend, Russell (Martin Cummins), an actor who's about to go on-stage for the closing night of his hit play. Their… More Liberty Wallace (Linda Fiorentino), the wife and business partner of wealthy weapons manufacturer Victor Wallace (Oliver Platt), is on her way to her regular assignation with her boyfriend, Russell (Martin Cummins), an actor who's about to go on-stage for the closing night of his hit play. Their plans are ruined by a mysterious gunman who calls himself Joe (Wesley Snipes). Joe straps Russell to a bomb in his dressing room, which will go off if he moves or speaks too loudly. Joe then calls Liberty on her cell phone and coerces her into chaining herself to a hot dog stand in a plaza outside the theater. The hot dog stand is rigged with a bomb, which will go off if Liberty hangs up her cell phone, or when it runs out of battery power. Joe also has a high-powered sniper rifle, her company's best gun, trained on Liberty. Joe doesn't make any demands at first, but it's clear that he has a problem with Liberty's weapons empire, which she inherited from her late father. He eventually tells Liberty that his young daughter was killed in a school shooting by one of the guns her company manufactured. Joe lets Liberty know that she's going to die, but she can die a hero if she exposes her company's shady business dealings and political connections before she's killed. As Joe monitors and records her every move, Liberty reveals secrets about her own past, and her business dealings. When Victor, who's also having an affair, finds out that his wife has been taken hostage, he's torn between following company protocol -- protecting himself and allowing his wife to be killed -- and going to help her. Liberty Stands Still was written and directed by Kari Skogland. The film premiered on Cinemax in July 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Kari Skogland
Written By: Kari Skogland
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 1, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Oct 22, 2002
Studio: Lions Gate Films

Critic Reviews

David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
Writer/director Kari Skogland clearly has an agenda - the film is vehemently anti-gun - resulting in incredibly obvious and preachy instances of dialogue and a ham-fisted approach to the storyline.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
A ripe-on-the-vine concept married to strident execution. There's thought here, but Liberty is marred by vague, freshman directorial touches.
Clint Morris, Moviehole
minutely preachy, confident and ultimatelty gripping. It fears not to tell it like it is, and it's central cast have feared not going where they - probably - haven't gone before

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean M

This thriller is like <i>The Negotiator</i> and <i>Phone Booth</i> about the vengeance of the mysterious caller onto a heiress to and co-president of America's largest gun manufacturing corporation.
Deb S

Wesley Snipes plays a man seeking revenge for the death of his daughter in a high school shooting incident. He calls himself Joe and takes a hostage Liberty (Linda Fiorentino of Last Seduction), the wife of the `evil' gun manufacturer (Oliver Platt), who, in this movie, is a… More
Wesley Snipes plays a man seeking revenge for the death of his daughter in a high school shooting incident. He calls himself Joe and takes a hostage Liberty (Linda Fiorentino of Last Seduction), the wife of the `evil' gun manufacturer (Oliver Platt), who, in this movie, is a mega-corporation that has every politician in the USA in its pocket. He has her cuffed to a hot-dog stand in a park which contains a bomb that is set to blow if her cell phone he is communicating to her on dies and plans on killing anyone that approaches her with the sniper-rifle he has pointed at her from a nearby building (am getting flashbacks of phone booth here) Linda Fiorentino is gorgeous but the anti-gun stance was weak, I would have expected some intelligent dialog somewhere. Nevertheless it deserves praise for trying to make a statement about guns, gun control, and violence.