On the last day of work, you hardly want the biggest case of your life. But that’s what Josh Duhamel gets in “Neglected,” a cat-and-mouse thriller that keeps the audience on edge.
His mission: Get to his son before the oxygen runs out in a hidden location. He learns of the situation when a serial killer (Dylan Sprouse) tells him he must solve three cases before he’ll give him the right clue.
Those three cases involve plenty of planning (they’re eye-opening) and a bit of backstory. Sprouse’s character has a bleak past that contributes to the “Silence of the Lambs”-like surprises.
Director David Lipper, who co-wrote the screenplay, ups the drama as the clock ticks down. While he might have given more details about Sprouse’s past, he does plenty with Duhamel’s fractured family life.
That underscores the urgency and lets Duhamel run, sweat and emote within a matter of minutes.
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Josh Duhamel stars in "Neglected."
Meanwhile, there’s a bit of turmoil in the government that wants to get him out as a detective.
After he’s presented a pen (a pen!) at the police station, he gets the call and goes to work.
Lipper confuses with some of his choices (Jeremy and Jason London appear as twins and, frankly, they’re hard to separate) but knows how to pace.
His cinematography is increasingly devoid of life as time runs out.
While Elena Sanchez, a blockbuster stunt artist, could have been given more lines, she does plenty with the ones she has and gives Duhamel the support others don’t.
“Neglected” is short, which means some of the stories could have been fleshed out. A look at the killer’s past could have explained why he chose Duhamel’s son and why there’s a deadline.
Duhamel brings enough grizzled exhaustion to feel his urgency, but he doesn’t really need the retirement timeline to propel the story. “Neglected,” in fact, looks like an AI summary of a limited series.
There’s the framework here for a cracking good story, but it needs a little more meat on its bones.
REVIEW: ‘Neglected’
Rated: PG-13 for language, violence
Stars: 2 ½ stars
Bruce’s Take: Josh Duhamel puts in the sweat equity to tell the story of a retiring detective.
