When troubled teen boy Stevie (Cameron Van Hoy) and his girlfriend, Rocky (Mischa Barton), attempt to rob a bank without any forethought, the situation rapidly deteriorates. Soon the young couple is holding bank customers and employees hostage, while law enforcement gathers outside. Daniel Bender (Burt Reynolds), a veteran negotiator for the FBI, is charged with assessing the crime scene and ending the standoff as quickly as possible, but Stevie's short fuse considerably complicates matters.
Acting
Cameron Van Hoy's unhinged desperation
Direction
Ash Baron-Cohen's claustrophobic real-time pressure
Writing
Dialogue that feels dangerously improvised
Director
Ash Baron-Cohen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Mischa Barton's film debut at age 13, filmed right before her breakout in The Sixth Sense.
Released months before Columbine, the film became nearly unwatchable in context—studio buried it despite Sundance buzz.
US
