Okay, okay. So I'm late. I had to wait until the Technical Director was at work, so I could have Antonio all to myself...
Ah, yes. Where was I? Thrill. No, not what happens to women on this list whenever Antonio Sabato Jr. smiles. It's a little movie about an amusement park, but it sure was no amusement for poor Antonio! Yeek! I hope the poor boy isn't afraid of heights! Even with a stunt double, he still had to do closeups on top of a rollercoaster. It gave me the willies just watching it. (No, not my cat Willie, either!)
First things first. He grew out that awful buzz-cut! YAY! ASJr's hair looks much better when you can imagine running your fingers through it...
But I digress. Thrill was surprisingly good, for a movie of the week on a Monday night. It was rather predictable, but Antonio did a great job. Now, why did his character seem so familiar? A working-class guy with a dead wife and pre-teen daughter, who has a problem with a woman having power over him? Now, where have I heard this before? Methinks he was doing an imitation of a Clancy Brown role. One thing you can say about Antonio, he sure works well with kids. He really had a rapport with that little Maddie-clone who played his daughter. Although wasn't he a little young to be the father of a pre-teen daughter? Maybe if he was sixteen when she was born. Gee, it's too bad that Maddie didn't get that part. She'd have been perfect.
Ah, now who is the mad bomber who bombs at midnight? Is it the homeless guy? The elderly African-American gent? The trusted right-hand man to his sister, DeeDee... er... Teresa? Nah, too easy. Let's put the blame on the least obvious person, while the real bomber practically has a neon sign pointing to him. And the Obligatory Love Interest, the fortune-teller. "I see... I see... I see that I dumped Dr. Mark Greene for someone who was better looking and had more hair..." I didn't recognize her as Dr. Greene from ER's ex-wife until she took off the wig. Nice to see her getting some work, even if she did do a bad Eastern European accent.
Of course, the highlight for me was the dream sequence, where Antonio encountered the mime, then went to test the coaster. Gee, Antonio in a dream sequence? What an original idea! Although, the mime really should have been a Terrian. Or, at the very least, had a staff. Which leads me to the explosive finale. Damn, I hope they paid Antonio's stunt-double extra for that! As you can tell, I don't like heights. Climbing over a moving roller-coaster must have been pretty hairy. Even doing shots on a moving coaster must have been frightening for our flyboy. I did like when the other passengers were holding down the bad guy. Finally, passengers who weren't acting like dummies. Good for them! Of course, the bomber goes splat, the sister sells the park at a profit, Antonio is reconciled with his daughter, and gets the girl. A happy ending all around, except for the bomber.
In all, "Thrill" was pretty good, albeit predictable. I give it four cotton candies out of five. And half of one to Antonio, who grew back his hair for us.
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