Vehicle 19 starts off with an American being chased by the Police, cars and a helicopter, through a gritty large urban city, in Jamaica possibly? The man seems desperate and in quite a bad situation. The present action ends with what appears to be an impending possible crash by use of a fade-out with the caption: "Earlier".
So, "earlier", the protagonist named Michael gets into his airport rental which is problematic as it apparently isn't the vehicle he requested. Being already late and apparently seeking to renew a troubled life and relationship he calls a woman who he is to meet. This movie is already playing on the modus operandi of giving almost no back-story excepting there has been trouble in Michael's life, likely of the criminal kind, and he is in a far place hoping for a renewed relationship with his significant other (who turns out to be his wife who is employed at The American Embassy). Audibly, as we yet have no idea who the woman is, a phone conversation transpires in which she warns Michael not to let her down again - to which he says he will not. He repeats "stay out of trouble" several time over to himself as he drives. Funny, the writers feel it is important we know that trouble will ensue by ramming it home...Wow, thanks!
As Michael drives everything seems "off". He gets lost and in stuck traffic. A call to the woman who he is meeting underscores just how "hanging-on-a-thread" the their relationship is as she mentions a reference to if he has stopped for liquor implying myriad trust issues. Good, now we can have a "doomed" love story undercurrent!
While waiting in traffic, a wolf casually strolls by his rear-view mirror between traffic. Spooky? Things are definitely off in this place. Two kids pull a "grift" on him as he waits. Things ramp up for the worse. He resumes his trek to meet the woman, Angie which turns out to be his (estranged?) wife, but not only is he still lost, but he finds a gun under the seat and he gets a phone call from a mysterious mobile phone planted among the things in the car. After this he decides to just dump the car and it's contents, but a second call convinces him that there was a legitimate mix-up involving an under-cover police person for who the car was intended. He is to meet the police to simply exchange the car. While the viewer now has a feeling of a story coming together you're still as "lost" as the Michael character is as he tries to find his new destination. This movie purposely holds back hoping to build suspense. Even realizing he will get a "tongue-lashing" from Angie, Michael calls her to get directions to his car-exchange destination. She is told she has to trust him and to not ask questions. She acquiesces because you know she just loves the punishment by her one "true" love has already given...And, now there promises to be more good times ahead!
Just as Michael receives Angie's directions (possibly alluding to much more than how to get to "Smut" street) things get much worse. A tied-up woman emerges from the back seat area. Things build toward maximum strangeness as Michael is almost shot and another call, from who Michael believes to be the helpful police, exposes that whoever these people are they know that he has broken his parole and are not the trust-able kind of police. The passenger is a public official about to expose corruption inside the government and she believes she is to be eliminated at whatever cost. The chief of police is heading a major sex-trafficking ring. Now, after a bit of painful slow build-up, a story is starting to develop.
The meeting goes wrong just as expected. Michael and Rachel, the kidnapped public prosecutor, escape...Yeah, that was expected even though they were outclassed in manpower, horsepower, and firepower. Did we expect anything less? Not exactly, plus we get a dumb fierily car crash by one of the chase vehicles. There is much more unbelievable evading the police to be done however, so apparently even though Michael's wife is "safe" inside the U.S. Embassy he becomes a man on a mission with nothing to lose. This could be a decent, if already done, story...But, somehow the trek to the outcome isn't believable enough to "grip" the viewer with the suspense the movie aspires to create. It's just a depressing and far-fetched ride to the "big" ending.
Even if the first part of the movie was built on a slow, sometimes painfully, reveal. We now get, more or less, the standard running for your life from just about everyone. The great effort to build a slowing evolving bigger and bigger suspense seems to fail due, primarily, to the quite unbelievable evading of the police and living through it. I guess a Chrysler mini-van is suppose to make that more difficult or something? All in all, though watchable not particularly a good movie within the genre of an suspenseful drama with action. In the end it rates no higher than a 4 in spite of Paul Walker's serviceable (i.e. decent yet not saving) acting hampered by an extremely tepid screenplay.
So, "earlier", the protagonist named Michael gets into his airport rental which is problematic as it apparently isn't the vehicle he requested. Being already late and apparently seeking to renew a troubled life and relationship he calls a woman who he is to meet. This movie is already playing on the modus operandi of giving almost no back-story excepting there has been trouble in Michael's life, likely of the criminal kind, and he is in a far place hoping for a renewed relationship with his significant other (who turns out to be his wife who is employed at The American Embassy). Audibly, as we yet have no idea who the woman is, a phone conversation transpires in which she warns Michael not to let her down again - to which he says he will not. He repeats "stay out of trouble" several time over to himself as he drives. Funny, the writers feel it is important we know that trouble will ensue by ramming it home...Wow, thanks!
As Michael drives everything seems "off". He gets lost and in stuck traffic. A call to the woman who he is meeting underscores just how "hanging-on-a-thread" the their relationship is as she mentions a reference to if he has stopped for liquor implying myriad trust issues. Good, now we can have a "doomed" love story undercurrent!
While waiting in traffic, a wolf casually strolls by his rear-view mirror between traffic. Spooky? Things are definitely off in this place. Two kids pull a "grift" on him as he waits. Things ramp up for the worse. He resumes his trek to meet the woman, Angie which turns out to be his (estranged?) wife, but not only is he still lost, but he finds a gun under the seat and he gets a phone call from a mysterious mobile phone planted among the things in the car. After this he decides to just dump the car and it's contents, but a second call convinces him that there was a legitimate mix-up involving an under-cover police person for who the car was intended. He is to meet the police to simply exchange the car. While the viewer now has a feeling of a story coming together you're still as "lost" as the Michael character is as he tries to find his new destination. This movie purposely holds back hoping to build suspense. Even realizing he will get a "tongue-lashing" from Angie, Michael calls her to get directions to his car-exchange destination. She is told she has to trust him and to not ask questions. She acquiesces because you know she just loves the punishment by her one "true" love has already given...And, now there promises to be more good times ahead!
Just as Michael receives Angie's directions (possibly alluding to much more than how to get to "Smut" street) things get much worse. A tied-up woman emerges from the back seat area. Things build toward maximum strangeness as Michael is almost shot and another call, from who Michael believes to be the helpful police, exposes that whoever these people are they know that he has broken his parole and are not the trust-able kind of police. The passenger is a public official about to expose corruption inside the government and she believes she is to be eliminated at whatever cost. The chief of police is heading a major sex-trafficking ring. Now, after a bit of painful slow build-up, a story is starting to develop.
The meeting goes wrong just as expected. Michael and Rachel, the kidnapped public prosecutor, escape...Yeah, that was expected even though they were outclassed in manpower, horsepower, and firepower. Did we expect anything less? Not exactly, plus we get a dumb fierily car crash by one of the chase vehicles. There is much more unbelievable evading the police to be done however, so apparently even though Michael's wife is "safe" inside the U.S. Embassy he becomes a man on a mission with nothing to lose. This could be a decent, if already done, story...But, somehow the trek to the outcome isn't believable enough to "grip" the viewer with the suspense the movie aspires to create. It's just a depressing and far-fetched ride to the "big" ending.
Even if the first part of the movie was built on a slow, sometimes painfully, reveal. We now get, more or less, the standard running for your life from just about everyone. The great effort to build a slowing evolving bigger and bigger suspense seems to fail due, primarily, to the quite unbelievable evading of the police and living through it. I guess a Chrysler mini-van is suppose to make that more difficult or something? All in all, though watchable not particularly a good movie within the genre of an suspenseful drama with action. In the end it rates no higher than a 4 in spite of Paul Walker's serviceable (i.e. decent yet not saving) acting hampered by an extremely tepid screenplay.