Surveillance poster & wallpaper

Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Pell James

It’s been a hell of a day on the highway.

When Federal Officers Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman) arrive at Captain Billing’s office, they have three sets of...( read more  read more... ) stories to figure out and a string of vicious murders to consider.

One zealot cop, a strung out junkie and an eight year old girl all sit in testimony to the roadside rampage, but as the Feds begin to expose the fragile little details each witness conceals so carefully with a well practiced lie, they soon discover that uncovering ‘the truth’ can come at a very big cost…

Flixster Users

44% liked it

27,006 ratings

Critics

55% liked it

69 critics

R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Jennifer Chambers Lynch

Release Date: June 26, 2009

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DVD Release Date: August 18, 2009

Stats: 1,130 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,130)

  • thefog1331
    October 18, 2009
    thefog1331
    An offbeat thriller that is well-made but not really all that thrilling or surprising. In fact I'm still not sure if the "twist" was really supposed to be a twist since if you pay any attention it all but smacks you in the face by the halfway mark.
    Anyway it features a great cas...( read more)t all around and is surprisingly funny-- although most of it is of a darker variety.
  • DerekA101
    October 15, 2009
    DerekA101
    Jennifer Lynch, daughter to renowned director David Lynch, makes her debut here with Surveillance and has inherited his eye for style and taste for bizarre twists. This film involves 2 FBI agents investigating a spree of gruesome murders across the countryside. They have...( read more) 3 witnesses to one of the crimes who are all give differing accounts of what they saw.

    It was no secret that a big twist was coming at the conclusion of this film, but I easily predicted it in the first 15 minutes. Maybe my senses were to keen on searching for it, but it was a very disappointing and obvious twist.

    The acting was stiff and atrocious, and the plot was rather weak. Bill Pullman, a fine actor, was really really bad here. I don't know if he didn't care or what, but his performance was laughable.

    The directing and signature flare was there, which served to help the film a little. And the violent scenes were graphic and shot very well. But overall, this film is a bit of stinker. Not impressed...
  • madmac17
    July 31, 2009
    madmac17
    I don't know if this is supposed to be funny or not. I hope so. But even if it's supposed to be, it's not. I like Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond, and Pell James was good in The King, but their talents are wasted in this pathetic excuse for a movie from writer/director Jennifer Cha...( read more)mbers Lynch (daughter of David). She tries very hard to inject this movie with a weirdness similar to that made famous by her father, and it starts out looking promising. But, as soon as we are introduced to the two police officers played by French Stewart and Kent Harper, the film loses all credibility. I don't believe there are policemen who would be so stupid as to perform the outrageous acts that these two engage in. Admittedly, there are corrupt police officers in the world, but the behaviour of these two is so reprehensible and so easily traced back to them (through ballistics, etc.) that suspension of disbelief just isn't an option for the viewer. And if you can't believe the actions of the characters in a film, at least on some level, if you can't see them as believably human, then how can you care what happens to them? You can't, and in this film I didn't. The only character that was remotely sympathetic was the young girl Stephanie (Ryan Simpkins), but the film has been so poisoned by the other characters that it's impossible to care what happens to anyone in it. You just want it to be over as quickly as possible, so you can go find a good movie to watch to take away the bad taste that this one has left in your mouth.
  • TheMachinist
    May 24, 2009
    TheMachinist
    "I'm not... having... a very good time."

    Jennifer Lynch has surely inherited her father's, one of the most eccentric directors of all time, David Lynch's talents for filmmaking. 'Surveillance' is her second film, she made 'Boxing Helena' back in '93. Haven't seen it and will pro...( read more)bably pass but I'm glad I watched this one.

    It seems odd to me that, here in Finland I got to watch this on DVD but in the States it has only been screened at some festivals and will have a limited release in July. And the DVD is only on pre-order! I guess it may prove that this film is not for everyone...

    I can't remember when was the last time I saw a film that surprised me as 'Surveillance' did. It starts as an usual "FBI ivestigates serial killings" and does have a pretty slow start. I almost gave up on the movie, thought that this would be a waste of time but like I said earlier, if you give the film a chance, you'll be thoroughly surprised and entertained.

    'Surveillance' gives an entirely new meaning to "Protect and Serve". Good cop bad cop scenes are usually so full of clichés but in this movie, Lynch has taken the whole thing a bit further. I've never seen cops as brutal and crazy as in 'Surveillance'. Guess living and working in some yokel environment may mess up your mind...

    The actors, who are mostly well known actors, perform well in their roles. Some surprising names in the cast, mainly French Stewart, who's best known for his role in '3rd Rock From the Sun' TV series. Didn't know he could act such an asshole on screen. Michael Ironside gives always credibility to any movie he's involved in. The two lead actors, Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman have both worked with David Lynch before so Jennifer probably knew what she was getting. Bill Pullman was nice to look at again. I like him in these smaller, indier films, not as a superhero "fighter pilot turned US president" as in 'ID4'.

    Pretty much everything looks and feels minimalistic. The cinematography is very impressive with a rough image. The acting is solid, may go a bit over the top in the end when the plot twist occurs but it doesn't have a bad effect on the outcome of the movie. I've always been a huge fan of indie and I'd like to see more of films like this. Films that obviously have a small budget but a huge factor of entertainment.

    'Surveillance' deserves a chance. If you haven't seen it or even heard of it, I recommend you to remember Jennifer Lynch and 'Surveillance'. The film may not be suitable for all but those who are tired of seeing those totally unsurprising movies, this movie is definitely for you.
  • EarthlyAlien
    March 24, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    "It's all right sweetheart, it's just a camera."

    Tense, voyeuristic and ever so slightly deranged, Surveillance is pretty much everything you'd expect from a film bearing the Lynch family name. Directed by Jennifer Chambers, her first film in 16 years, and produced...( read more) by her dad David, it's a tight, engrossing film that pulls you into an FBI investigation surrounding a series of grim killings before making an expected gearshift for the finale.

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    Two feds (played by Lynchian actors Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond) arrive at a small-town police station to meet three different sets of witnesses who survived a brutal attack. Setting up cameras in each interrogation room, they oversee questioning of meth-head Bobbi (Pell James), eight-year-old Stephanie (Ryan Simpkins) and volatile cop Jack Bennett (Kent Harper). Taking cues from everything from Rashômon to The Usual Suspects, Jennifer (as with the Coppolas and the Sheridans, there's only one Lynch) explores each witness' perspective of the event through flashbacks to piece together the murderer's identity. It soon emerges that everyone's version of the truth is distorted and the key to solving the crime may lie with the quiet young girl.

    Surveillance never really knows what it is. It strolls along as a black comedy, horror and crime procedural, revealing enough of its hand to keep you interested. But it's as a thriller, when the three witnesses meet for the first time on a deserted highway road, that it gains speed. Leading a bored and isolated existence in a US backwater town, cops Jim Conrad (French Stewart) and Bennett shoot out the tire of the car Stephanie and her family are in. Stopping nearby are Bobbi and boyfriend Johnny (Mac Miller). Conrad and Bennett begin to torment the passengers in both cars - their abuse of Bobbi and Stephanie's mother (Cheri Oteri) being particularly disturbing and misogynistic, pushing way beyond the 'fun' they may have initially intended. The scene reaches a savage climax when a van crashes into frame and the killer clinically picks off targets. Tension is masterfully built throughout this sequence; it's edge-of-your-seat uncomfortable and by far the best part of an altogether uneven film.

    Jennifer is deliberately elusive with her lead characters, resulting in an emotional detachment from the pair when their case turns dramatically darker. Pullman takes on his role with a little too much panache - he's played an off-kilter investigator before (in Zero Effect), but not one with this many tics. His character is a mash-up of avuncular Jack Nicholson and Blue Velvet's insane Frank Booth. Ormond's role is less showy, yet you get a sense of her longing for motherhood, and her bond with Stephanie is a touching one.

    Too sadistic and weird for the masses to gravitate towards, Surveillance ends with a predictable revelation that pulls the story into Lynchian Bonnie and Clyde territory. None of the adult characters have any redeeming qualities, yet the filmmakers have managed to create something very watchable despite delving into the blackest corners of human nature. I'd be lying if I said Surveillance isn't a wee bit disappointing, but it still proves that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and that Lynch's kid has the gift for deranged, boundary-pushing cinema running through her veins.

    "I know who you are."
  • cherylxx01
    November 4, 2009
    cherylxx01
    Thought it was going to be a decent film but was the opposite.
  • ristrawn
    October 30, 2009
    ristrawn
    good & real about bad cops & bad people with great twist & very intense... Julia Ormond & Bill Pullman were fantastic. Fantastic directing by Jennifer Chambers Lynch...
  • ifeels1ck
    October 29, 2009
    ifeels1ck
    The daughter of Lynch directs a warped, ruthless crime thriller where nothing is what it seems.
  • RThornhill
    October 28, 2009
    RThornhill
    Apparently the tainted apple hasn't fallen far from the Lynch family tree. recommended.
  • smp1227
    October 25, 2009
    smp1227
    Pretty twisted plot. The ending was completely different then I would have imagined. Some of the violence was over the top but not too bad.

View All Surveillance Reviews

Critic Reviews

July 3, 2009
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. full review

June 26, 2009
Pete Hammond, Boxoffice Magazine

Performances are outstanding across the board. full review

June 26, 2009
Kurt Loder, MTV

The picture is twisted and disturbing and funny. Director Jennifer Lynch has pushed the material to the wall -- she has a gift for violence and perversity, and she never pulls back. full review

June 26, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Ether a ludicrously bad movie or a parody of same. Either way, it's pretty funny. full review

June 19, 2009
Nick Schager, Cinematical

A nasty little slice of backwater depravity. full review

April 2, 2009
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

For a time, Surveillance is sick, smart fun. But then things get weird: yes, there's a big surprise, but its playout is predictable, and nasty. full review

March 6, 2009
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

The scenes are shot in a clever range of styles, the dialogue is as sharp as a Stanley knife. The atmosphere in the cop shop, where the film closes in for the teased-out development before the recapit... full review

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Surveillance Trivia

  • In what movie is Nicolas Cage is a surveillance expert?  Answer »
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